MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI 

A  HISTORY  OF 


RELIGIOUS    PROSCRIPTION,    THE    SEIZURE    OF    CHURCHES,    AND 
THE  PERSECUTION  OF  MINISTERS   OF  THE  GOS 
PEL,  LN  THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


DURING  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAR, 


AND  UNDER  THE 


" 


TEST  OATH"  OF  THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION. 


BY 


REV.  W.  M.  LEFTWICH,  D.  D 


VOLUME    I. 


SAINT  LOUIS: 
S.  W.  BOOK  &  PTJB.  CO.,  510  &  512  WASHINGTON  AYE. 

PUBLISHED  FOR  TIIE  AUTHOR. 

1870. 


TO  THE 

MARTYRS     OF    MISSOURI, 

AXD  TIIE 

CAUSE    FORWHICH    THEY    SUFFERED, 

THIS  BOOK 
IS  RESPECTFULLY  INSCRIBED, 

BY  THE  AUTHOR. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1869,  by 

W.  M.  LEFTWICH, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Easter 
District  of  Missouri, 


PREFACE. 


"We  are  making  history,"  was  the  convenient  and  popular  boast 
of  certain  politico-religious  fanatics  during  the  late  civil  war,  and  for 
a  few  years  subsequent  to  its  close.  It  will  not  be  considered  imper 
tinent,  now  that  the  "piping  times  of  peace"  have  come,  and  men 
are  permitted  to  look  back  upon  the  cooled  passions  and  crystallized 
events  of  that  dreadful  period  with  somewhat  of  calm  philosophy,  if 
the  fact  should  be  announced  that  "we  are  writing  history."  It  is 
one  thing  to  make  the  history,  it  is  quite  another  thing  to  write  it. 
If  others  could  afford  to  "make  history,"  and,  then,  in  popular  cant 
and  with  prurient  vanity,  boast  of  it,  we  can  well  afford  to  write  it 
up  for  them.  And  if  our  part  of  the  task  be  fairly,  candidly  and 
correctly  done,  they  will  have  little  reason  to  complain  if  they  appear 
before  the  world  and  go  down  to  posterity  in  the  light  of  the  history 
they  have  made,  and  with  their  true  character  brought  out  by  the 
shadows  they  have  thrown  forward  upon  the  future.  History  is  valu 
able,  not  merely  as  a  catalogue  of  events  and  an  inventory  of  things, 
but  for  the  principles  involved  and  the  lessons  taught.  The  events 
herein  narrated  are  notorious,  the  principles  involved  are  vital,  and 
the  lessons  important. 

Missouri  will  ever  be  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  history  as  the 
only  State  in  the  American  Union  to  inaugurate  and  authorize  a 
formal  opposition  to  Christianity,  as  an  institution,  and  legalize  the 
persecution  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  as  a  class.  The  fact  will  not 
be  denied,  and  the  history  furnishes  the  saddest,  wisest  lessons.  Minis 
ters  of  the  gospel  have  been  robbed,  arrested,  imprisoned,  and  even 
murdered,  for  no  other  cause  than  that  they  were  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  They  have  been  indicted  by  grand  juries,  arrested  and  im 
prisoned  with  common  felons,  mobbed  and  put  to  death  for  no  other 
cause  than  that  of  preaching  the  gospel  without  taking  the  "Test 
Oath"  of  the  New  Constitution.  A  pure,  unsecular  Christianity 


4  PREFACE. 

owes  much  to  the  moral  heroism  of  the  Missouri  ministry.  The  faith 
once  delivered  unto  the  saints,  the  integrity  of  the  Church  of  Jesus 
Christ,  as  a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,  the  purity  of  the  gospel,  the 
divine  authority  of  the  ministry,  the  liberty  of  conscience,  and  the 
rightful  sovereignty  of  Christ  in  his  Church,  with  every  principle 
and  phase  of  religious  liberty,  have  been  illustrated  in  the  lives  and 
sublimely  vindicated  in  the  sufferings  of  the  ministers  of  the  gospel 
in  Missouri. 

The  author  fully  appreciates  the  delicacy  and  difficulty  of  dealing 
with  such  recent  events  and  so  many  living  names — events,  too,  which 
belong  to  the  catalogue  of  crime,  and  names  that  will  pass  into  history 
associated  with  the  persecution  and  stained  with  the  blood  of  the 
Lord's  annointed.  But  if  the  task  is  difficult  and  the  questions  deli 
cate,  the  duty  is  no  less  imperative.  It  is  due  alike  to  the  martyrs, 
living  and  dead,  and  to  the  holy  cause  for  which  they  suffered,  that 
their  names  and  deeds  be  preserved,  and  that  their  unswerving  fidelity 
and  sublime  devotion  to  a  principle  and  a  cause,  equal  to  the  purest 
heroism  of  the  ancient  martyrs,  should  not  be  lost  to  the  Church.  It 
is  one  of  the  gravest  responsibilities  of  the  hour,  and  one  of  the  most 
gracious  opportunities  of  the  Church,  to  preserve  the  history,  vindi 
cate  the  faith,  maintain  the  principles  and  impress  the  lessons  of  the 
turbulent  past  upon  the  peaceful  future,  that  grace  may  abound 
through  suffering  and  God  may  be  glorified  in  his  servants. 

A  diluted  charity  says,  "Let  the  dead  past  bury  its  dead, 
and  let  the  living  present  draw  the  rnantle  of  charity  over  the 
unfortunate  by-gones."  This  might  be  well  enough  if  the  "dead 
past"  did  not  contain  the  imperishable  geim  of  a  resurrection  life  that 
speaks  to  us  with  authority  in  the  vital  principles  of  yesterday,  to 
day  and  forever,  and  tells  us,  amongst  other  things,  that  the  chief  of 
the  Christian  virtues — a  pure,  discriminating  charity — has  no  mantle 
for  crime,  however  Christ-like  may  be  its  compassion  for  the  penitent 
criminal. 

Both  Federal  and  State  legislation  shield  those  who  committed  the 
crimes  of  the  war  from  legal  prosecution ;  but  such  enactments  pos 
sess  no  control  over  the  pen  and  the  press. 

In  presenting  this  work  to  the  public  the  author  is  fully  conscious 
of  its  many  literary  defects.  But  for  all  that,  he  dare  not  sacrifice  the 
facts  of  history,  even  to  literary  excellence.  Many  subjects  possess 


PREFACE.  5 

an  importance  and  a  grandeur  wholly  independent  of  those  who 
handle  them. 

If.  in  treating  of  so  many  men  and  such  recent  events,  injustice  has 
been  done  the  living  or  the  dead,  the  author  pleads  the  absence  of  in 
tention  and  claims  the  benefit  of  a  discriminating  charity. 

Both  the  work  and  the  author  will  receive  the  severest  criticism — 
perhaps  censure — possibly  abuse.  The  first — he  would  not  escape  if 
he  could;  the  second — he  could  not  escape  if  he  would  ;  the  third — 
well — it  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun  for  those  who  are  set  for  the 
defense  of  truth  and  righteousness  to  be  abused. 

The  following  prefatory  notes,  furnished  by  Dr.  M'Anally  and 
Bishop  Marvin,  together  with  the  Introduction  by  Dr.  Summers,  will 
not  only  assure  the  timid  and  establish  the  doubtful,  but  will  be  as 
grateful  to  the  Methodist  and  general  public  as  to  the  author  : 

PREFATOKY  NOTE. 

"  In  the  following  pages  the  reader  may  find  an  account  of  some  of 
those  horrible  outrages  perpetrated  on  Christian  ministers  in  Missouri, 
chiefly  because  they  were  Christian  men  and  Christian  ministers ;  but 
scarce  a  tenth  of  all  such  outrages  have  been,  or  likely  ever  will  be, 
placed  before  the  public.  They  have  cast  a  foul  and  ineraseable  blot 
upon  the  fame  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  must  consign  the  im 
mediate  perpetrators  to  an  infamy  as  lasting  and  as  hateful  as  that  of 
the  most  cruel  persecutors  of  Christians  in  gone-by  ages.  And  what 
deepens,  blackens  and  renders  more  odious  the  guilt  of  these  things  is, 
they  were  for  the  greater  part  done  by,  or  under  the  sanction  of,  men 
professing  to  love  and  follow  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;  with  a  claim  to, 
and  under  the  pretext  of,  a  purer  patriotism  and  holier  Christianity, 
they  committed  atrocities  that  would  disgrace  barbarians  and  savages. 

"  It  is  well  the  record  of  these  horrible  deeds  be  preserved,  that  the 
better  portion  of  the  people  in  this  and  other  States  may  have  some 
knowledge  of  what  was  done  and  suffered  here  during  the  dark  and 
bloody  days,  from  1801  to  '65. 

"Many  of  those,  directly  or  indirectly,  implicated  in  these  deeds  of 
cruelty  and  shame  are  nowr  loud  and  earnest  in  their  entreaties  for 
'  by-gones  to  be  by-gones.'  and  profess  great  grief  that  anything  should 
be  said  or  done  'to  keep  alive  the  feelings  of  the  past.'  It  is  not 
strange  they  should  feel  thus ;  but  can  they  reasonably  expect  an 


6  PREFACE. 

honest  and  outraged  people  should  continue  to  cover  up  such  abomina 
tions,  receive  those  who  committed  them  into  respectable  society,  and 
treat  them  as  though  they  were  innocent,  honest,  high-minded,  Chris 
tian  gentlemen?  That  would  be  strange— passing  strange!  No! 
Truth  and  righteousness,  justice  and  mercy,  alike  demand  that  a  faith 
ful  record  of  all  such  inhuman  outrages  be  made,  extensively  circu 
lated  and  carefully  preserved;  that  all  the  perpetrators,  instigators 
and  abettors  be  consigned  to  that  infamy  they  so  deservedly  earned. 
Of  such  a  record  this  is  the  first  volume,  and  it  is  hoped  another,  and 
another,  and,  if  need  be,  yet  another,  will  be  forthcoming,  until  the 
whole  matter  shall  be  placed  in  its  true  and  proper  light. 

"  Of  the  manner  in  which  the  author  has  performed  his  work  in 
the  pages  following  I  need  not  speak.  Each  reader  will  judge  for  him 
self,  and  each  will  find  something  to  interest  and  instruct.  The  facts 
developed  are  exceedingly  suggestive,  and  suggestive,  too,  in  regard 
to  all  the  interests  of  society. 

"  The  thoughtful  reader  will  naturally  inquire  as  to  the  cause  of, 
and  reason  for,  such  things,  as  well  as  to  their  natural  and  legitimate 
effects,  and  this  may  induce  an  honest,  healthful  inquhy  as  to  what  in 
fluences  should  be  brought  to  bear  to  make  men  better,  and  thus  pre 
vent  the  recurrence  of  such  things  as  are  here  detailed.  Let  the  book 
be  extensively  circulated,  carefully  read,  and  its  contents  well  con 
sidered. 

"D.  E.  M'ANALLY. 

"  CAKONDELET,  Mo.,  December  29,  1869." 


"ST.  Louis,  December  24,  1869. 
"REV.  TV.  M.  LEFTWICH: 

"  Dear  Sir — I  have  seen  the  proof  sheets  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
first  volume  of  'Martyrdom  in  Missouri,'  now  soon  to  come  from 
the  press. 

"The  publication  of  this  book  meets  my  hearty  approval.  I  have 
met  with  some  who  say,  'Let  the  past  sleep;  let  all  its  crimes,  and  the 
bad  blood  engendered  by  them,  be  buried  forever.'  I  have  not  so 
learned  Christ.  He,  the  Incarnate  Love,  charged  the  blood  of  the 
prophets  upon  the  sons  of  their  murderers.  The  true  work  of  Chris 
tian  charity  is  to  eradicate  crime,  not  to  ignore  it.  The  maudlin 
sentiment  that  would  daub  over  the  great  public  crimes  committed  by 


PREFACE.  7 

the  highest  dignitaries  of  the  Nothern  Methodist  Church  and  their 
representatives  in  the  South  and  along  the  border,  is  not  charity.  It 
is  at  best  a  clumsy  counterfeit  of  that  chief  of  the  virtues.  True 
charity  will  seek  to  bring  them  to  confession  and  recantation  of  their 
deeds. 

"  To  all  their  former  misdeeds  they  now  add,  to  avoid  the  shame  of 
the  past,  denials,  equivocation  and,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Holston  prop 
erty  seized  by  them,  false  recriminations.  The  sober  truth  is  that 
they  never  hesitated  during  the  time  of  our  public  trouble  to  use  the 
influence  an  active  partisanship  gave  them  with  the  party  in  power, 
to  take  possesion  of  our  property,  either  by  military  order,  or  terrorism, 
or  mob  violence.  The  public  conscience  of  that  Church  seems  to 
have  been  debauched  by  their  efforts  to  defraud  us  of  our  property  at 
the  time  of  the  division  of  the  Church. 

"But  the  stench  of  these  recent  atrocities  is  so  strong  in  the  nostrils 
of  the  people  that  the  perpetrators  resort  to  the  ever  open  refuge  of 
the  evil-doer — denial.  This  book  is  opportune.  The  great  body  of 
the  preachers  and  members  of  the  Church  North  are  honest  men. 
The  denials  made  by  their  leading  men  and  Church  papers  they  sup 
pose  to  be  true.  Here  are  facts  in  detail,  with  places,  names,  dates, 
and  copies  of  legal  proceedings  taken  from  official  sources. 

"  Before  the  war,  when  Northern  preachers  were  objects  of  suspicion, 
and  public  demonstrations  were  sometimes  made  against  them,  the 
editor  of  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  Kev.  D.  K.  M' Anally, 
raised  his  voice  against  all  mobs  and  mob  violence  with  a  will  and  an 
emphasis  that  left  no  covert  suggestions  of  encouragement  to  those 
who  might  have  been  disposed  to  resort  to  violent  measures.  Led  by 
the  Advocate,  the  whole  Southern  Church  in  the  State  gave  its  in 
fluence,  publicly  and  privately,  against  all  violent  proceedings.  If 
that  paper  and  our  Church  had,  at  that  time,  pursued  the  course  that 
the  Northern  preachers  and  papers  did  towards  us  during  the  war, 
they  would  have  been  driven  from  the  State.  As  it  was,  in  order  to 
get  credit  for  persecution,  they  had  to  resort  to  the  most  remarkable 
tricks.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case,  given  with  proper  names  in  this 
book,  of  one  of  their  camp  meetings  being  broken  up  by  the  preacher 
in  charge  of  it  being  caught  in  the  act  of  adultery — broken  up  by  their 
own  members.  This  they  published  to  the  world  as  a  case  of  per 
secution  by  Southern  people. 


8  PREFACE. 

"  "While  I  do  not  agree  fully  with  all  the  views  set  forth  in  the  pre 
liminary  chapters  of  this  volume,  I  am  prepared  to  say  that  the  facts 
bearing  on  the  main  topic  have  been  collected  and  verified  with  great 
care,  and  that  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  accuracy  of  the  statements. 
You  have  been  pleased  to  hold  yourself  responsible,  giving  proper 
names,  dates,  etc.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  invite  upon  myself  a  full  share 
of  the  responsibility. 

"  Hoping  that  you  will  soon  have  the  second  volume,  containing 
the  names  of  our  other  murdered  brethren,  reaclv  for  the  press, 
"  I  am,  very  respectfully, 

"E.  M.  MAE  YIN." 


INTRODUCTION 


BY 


REV,  T,  0,  SUMMERS,  D,  D, 


The  author  of  the  following  work  has  desired 
an  expression  of  our  opinion  in  regard  to  its  pub 
lication.  We  have  read  the  manuscript  with 
painful  interest,  and  are  free  to  say  that  we  have 
had  some  misgivings  as  to  the  expediency  of 
sending  it  forth  to  the  world.  The  facts  here 
brought  to  light  are  so  revolting,  and  their  record 
is  so  damaging  to  the  reputation  of  those  by  whom 
they  were  perpetrated  and  their  aiders  and  abet 
tors,  that  we  might  well  hesitate  as  to  the  pro 
priety  of  their  publication.  As  Methodists,  in 
particular,  we  are  strongly  tempted  to  throw  the 
veil  of  oblivion  over  those  scenes  of  oppression 
and  outrage,  in  which  many  of  our  co-religion 
ists  of  the  North  bore  so  conspicuous  a  part. 

But  the  cause  of  truth  and  righteousness  de 
mands  the  publication.  There  is  a  measure  of 
retribution  which  must  not  be  relegated  to  the 
"judgment  to  come,"  but  which  must  be  dealt  out 
in  the  present  world. 

"We  owe  it  to  "  the  noble  army  of  martyrs," 
whose  lives  were  sacrificed  to  appease  the  demands 
of  fanaticism,  bigotry,  cruelty,  and  hate,  that  their 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

murderers  shall  not  go  un whipped  of  justice — at 
least,  sucli  castigation  as  the  truth  of  history  can 
inflict. 

We  owe  it  to  those  who  were  made  widows  and 
orphans  by  the  monsters  who  enacted  these  bloody 
scenes,  to  let  the  world  know  that  the  husbands 
and  fathers  of  these  innocent  sufferers  were  not 
rebels  and  traitors,  but  good  men  and  true,  "  of 
whom  the  world  was  not  worthy." 

We  owe  it  to  the  institutions  of  our  country  to 
let  it  be  known  that  the  appalling  scenes  that  were 
enacted  during  the  late  reign  of  terror  were  not 
the  result  of  the  principles  which  underlie  our 
Federal  and  State  governments,  but  of  the  pal 
pable  contravention  of  them. 

We  owe  it  to  the  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  the 
South  that  posterity  shall  be  told  who  invaded  their 
rights  ;  who  robbed  them  of  their  churches,  parson 
ages,  cemeteries,  and  seminaries ;  who  murdered, 
scourged,  and  plundered,  and  banished  many  of 
their  ministers  and  lay  members,  including  even 
women  and  children,  because  they  would  not  com 
promise  principles  which  they  held  dearer  than 
life  itself. 

It  is  well  for  the  world  to  be  told  that  moral 
heroism  has  not,  like  Astrsea,  left  the  earth  and 
ascended  to  the  skies.  Thank  God !  there  have 
been  heroes  in  our  times  ;  and  we  are  encouraged 
to  believe  that  the  race  will  not  soon  become 
extinct.  The  night  of  persecution  would  bring 
such  stars  to  view  again.  Daniel  and  the  "  three 
children,"  the  Maccabees,  the  Apostles,  Polycarp, 


11 

Ignatius,  and  other  victims  of  Pagan  persecution 
in  primitive  times — the  Albigenses,  Waldenses, 
Huguenots,  the  Marian  martyrs,  and  other  victims 
of  papal  persecution — ISToncomformist  and  Remon 
strant  confessors, who  "took  joyfully,"  or  at  least 
patiently,  "  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,"  imprison 
ment,  exile,  and  sometimes  death — these  have  had 
their  successors  in  the  fearful  times  through  which 
we  have  passed,  and  the  record  of  them  gives  us 
a  guaranty  that  under  similar  circumstances  such 
heroes  will  appear  again. 

In  perusing  this  work  one  is  constantly  reminded 
of  the  saying  of  the  wise  man,  uls  there  any 
thing  whereof  it  may  Ibe  said,  See,  this  is  new  ?  it 
hath  been  already  of  old  time  which  was  before 
us."  He  had  seen  similar  evils  to  those  which  we 
have  seen  and  suffered.  "  There  is  an  evil  which  I 
have  seen  under  the  sun  as  an  error  which  pro- 
ceedeth  from  the  ruler:  folly  is  set  in  great  dig- 
nity,  and  the  rich  sit  in  low  place.  I  have  seen 
servants  upon  horses,  and  princes  walking  as 
servants  upon  the  earth."  "  So  I  returned  and 
considered  all  the  oppressions  that  are  done  under 
the  sun  ;  and  behold  the  tears  of  such  as  were 
oppressed,  and  they  had  no  comforter."  Then,  as 
in  our  late  calamitous  times,  good  men  mourned 
as  they  were  forced  to 

bear  the  whips  and  scorns  of  time, 

TV  oppressor's  wrong,  the  proud  man's  contumely, 
The  insolence  of  office,  and  the  spurns 
That  patient  merit  of  th'  unworthy  takes. 

The  history  of  these  terrible  transactions  is 
valuable,  too,  as  an  admonitory  lesson,  teaching  us 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

that  no  sect  is  absolutely  proof  against  the  seduc 
tive  influence  of  political  power  and  ascendency. 
Down  to  the  present  decade  the  Methodists  could 
plume  themselves  with  an  honest  satisfaction 
upon  the  fact  that  while  nearly  all  other  sects  had 
risen  to  power  and  abused  it  to  persecuting  pur 
poses,  they  never  had.  It  was,  indeed,  sometimes 
insinuated  that  they  never  had  persecuted  because 
they  never  had  the  power  to  do  so.  But  they 
contended,  and,  it  was  thought,  with  good  reason, 
that  the  principles  of  Methodism,  being  so  pure, 
spiritual,  and  catholic,  would  be  a  sure  safeguard 
from  political  alliances,  worldly  ambitions,  and 
persecuting  practices  ;  but,  alas !  that  ground  of 
boasting  is  taken  away.  The  devil  came  with  his 
"  third  temptation  "  to  Northern  Methodists,  in 
cluding  even  bishops  of  the  Church,  and  they  did 
not  sa*y,  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan !"  They  ascended 
by  the  devil's  ladder  to  "  thrones  of  power,"  and 
played  such  tricks  during  the  continuance  of  their 
brief  authority  as  made  the  angels  weep !  The 
wrongs  of  1844  and  1848  developed  into  horrible 
atrocities  in  the  sun  of  political  prosperity  which 
shone  upon  them  during  the  wrar  which  subju 
gated  the  South.  The  lesson,  we  repeat,  is  ad 
monitory.  We  trust  in  God  no  such  temptation 
will  ever  be  set  before  the  Southern  Church  ;  it 
seems  to  be  "  a  test  for  human  frailty  too  severe." 
It  is  not  intended  by  these  remarks  to  inculpate 
all  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Northern 
Methodist  Church.  God  forbid !  There  are  thou 
sands  among  them  who  have  not  bowed  the  knee 


LNTKODUCTIOX.  13 

to  Baal.  They  are  attached  to  the  Northern  con 
nection  because  of  their  location — they  denounce 
the  evil  deeds  of  their  brethren ;  indeed,  in  many 
instances  they  are  not  apprised  of  them,  or 
honestly  believe  that  they  are  gross  exaggerations. 
These  enormities,  however,  are,  to  a  great  ex 
tent,  charged  upon  the  Northern  Methodist  Con 
nection  because,  they  were  perpetrated  by  its 
bishops  and  other  agents ;  endorsed,  or  at  least  not 
disowned,  by  General  and  Annual  Conferences, 
and  have  not  been  repented  of  until  this  day. 
Need  any  one  seek  further  for  a  reason  why  the 
Southern  Church  wants  no  fellowship  with  those 
who  murder,  rob,  oppress,  and  slander  its  ministers 
and  members,  or  sanction  those  who  do  ? 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  we  lay  all  the 
blame  upon  Northern  Methodists — other  Churches 
furnished  their  quota  of  persecution  and  oppres 
sion,  though,  for  obvious  reasons,  Southern  Me 
thodists  suffered  more  from  their  Northern  co-reli 
gionists  than  from  any  other  parties.  Thus  was 
it  with  pagan  and  popish  persecutions — a  man's 
foes  were  frequently  those  of  his  own  household. 
Apostates  have  ever  been  the  most  bitter  and 
unscrupulous  persecutors.  This  is  a  painful  re 
flection.  The  eagle  is  pierced  by  an  arrow 
feathered  from  an  eagle's  wing  !  Thus  history 
repeats  itself. 

The  perusal  of  this  work  will  teach  us  not  to 
put  our  trust  in  man,  not  even  in  princes  ;  no,  nor 
in  institutions  of  our  own  framing,  written  consti 
tutions,  compacts,  and  the  like,  which  upon  occa- 


14  IOTEODUCTIOH". 

sion  .may  prove  to  be  worth  no  more  than  the 
parchment  on  which  they  are  engrossed. 

Nothing  is  perfectly  true,  and  just,  and  good, 
and  stable,  but  the  kingdom  of  God.  Never 
theless,  the  recital  of  the  horrors  portrayed  in 
this  book,  which  contains  a  mere  modicum  of 
what  might  be  narrated,  ought  to  lead  us  to  thank 
God  most  devoutly  that  these  calamities  are  nearly 
overpast,  and  we  have  the  prospect  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty,  which  we  know  better  than  ever 
how  to  appreciate.  The  changes  which  have  taken 
place  in  the  government  of  the  United  States  lead 
many  to  entertain  gloomy  anxieties  for  the  future, 
and  to  despair  of  the  permanency  of  republican 
institutions  ;  yet  we  venture  to  hope  that  a  wise, 
gracious,  and  powerful  Providence  will  so  inter 
pose  in  behalf  of  our  country  that  these  fore 
bodings  will  not  be  realized. 

"We  may  just  state  that  we  are  assured  of  the 
truth  of  many  of  the  details  in  this  work  by  other 
testimonies ;  and  for  the  rest  we  depend  confidently 
on  the  accuracy  of  the  author,  who  has  taken 
great  pains  in  collecting  his  materials  from  the 
most  trustworthy  sources.  He  is  a  reputable  min 
ister  of  the  Missouri  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  and  holds  himself  res 
ponsible  for  all  that  he  narrates. 

T.  0  S. 

NasTimlle,  Tenn.,  Nov.  2%,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK    I. 

MISSOURI  DISTINGUISHED  FOR  RELIGIOUS  PERSECUTION. 

Religious  Libert}-  Secured  to  every  Citizen  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  by  every  State  Constitution,  and  every  Department 
of  the  Federal  and  State  Governments — Religious  Liberty  Pro 
tected  and  Enjoyed  for  two  Centuries — The  Stephen  Girard  Will 
Case — Mr.  Webster's  Great  Speech — Religious  Rights  Defined — 
General  Assembly  of  Missouri  Refuses  to  elect"  a  Chaplain — 
Legalizes  Sunday  Beer  Gardens — A  Card — A  Renegade  Minister — 
Reflections. 

CHAPTEK    II. 

POLITICAL  EXCITEMENT  OF  1850  AND  '60. 

Foreigners — Know-Nothingism — Foreign  Element  in  Politics — Class 
Legislation  to  Encourage  Immigration,  Develop  the  Resources, 
and  Subvert  the  Religious  Institutions  of  the  State  —  German 
Rationalists  and  Christianity  —  The  True  Interests  of  a  State — 
Modern  Spiritualism  —  Its  Pretensions  —  Phenomena  —  Influence 
upon  the  Credulous — " Circles " — Mediums — Agents — Lecturers — 
Free-Loveism  —  Thousands  of  Disciples  —  Midnight  Lamp  in 
Thousands  of  Houses  —  Many  Turned  from  the  Faith  to  Serve 
Tables— Most  Dangerous  and  Powerful  Form  of  Infidelity— Free- 
Thmkers — A  Novel  Encounter  with  an  "Improved  Monkey" — 
Napoleon's  "  Moral  Combinations "  at  Work  upon  the  Public 
Mind. 

CHAPTEK    III. 

CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  POPULATION. 

All  Nationalities  and  all  Social  Peculiarities  Fused  into  a  Common 
Mass— Missourian— First  Settlers  of  the  State— Where  From  and 
their  Type  of  Domestic  and  Social  Life — The  "Kansas-Nebraska 
Bill  " — Its  Effect  upon  the  Population  of  Missouri — "Emigration 
Aid  Societies  " — Extremes  Brought  Together  in  Missouri — Reflex 
Tides  of  Population — Rapid  Increase — Unique  Social  Formation 
— Social  Peculiarities  Fuse  —  Religious  Characteristics  Become 
more  Distinct — Religious  Thought  and  Feeling — Doctrines  and 


16  CONTENTS. 

Dogmas  are  Sharply  Defined  and  Fearfully  Distinct  in  Missouri — 
Sects'  and  their  Peculiarities — Sectarian  Strife  Uncompromising — 
Why— Religious  Controversy— Published  Debates— Their  _  Effect 
— Sectarian  Bigotry  and  Intolerance — Differences,  Essential  and 
Non-essential --History  Ever  Repeating  Itself— Persecution  has 
Adopted  Few  New  Expedients— Early  Martyrs  and  the  Missouri 
Martyrs — "The  Altar,  the  Wood  and  the' Lamb  for  a  Burnt 
Offering." 

CHAPTBE    IV. 

DIVISION  OF  THE  CHURCH  IN  1844. 

Slavery  only  the  Occasion — Action  of  the  General  Conference  in  1836 
—Slavery  in  the  Church  in  1796  and  in  1886 — No  Change  of  its 
Moral  Aspects  in  1844 — Facts  Perverted — Constitutional  Powers 
of  the  Church — Bishop  Andrew  a  Scapegoat — Protest  of  the  South 
ern  Conferences — Resolution  and  Plan  of  Separation — Dr.  Elliott 
and  Schism — The  Vote — The  Question  in  the  South — Louisville 
Convention  in  1845— Division— The  Bishops  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
Accept  the  Division  the  following  July — Failure  to  Change  the 
Sixth  Restrictive  Rule — General  Conference  of  1848  Pronounce 
the  A\rhole  Proceedings  Null  and  Void  -  Dr.  Lovick  Pierce  Re 
jected — Fraternization  Denied — Responsibility  of  Non-Fraterniza 
tion — Northern  Church  Refuse  to  Make  any  Division  of  Property 
— Appeal  to  the  Civil  Courts — Decision  of  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York — Justice 
McLean — United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District 
of  Ohio — Judge  Leavitt's  Decision — Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States — Points  Decided — The  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in 
Full. 

CLTAPTEK    V. 

I  FROM     THE     DIVISION     OF     THE     CHURCH,    IN     1845,    TO    THE 
BEGINNING    OF    THE    CIVIL   WAR,    IN    1861. 

Provision  of  the  Plan  of  Separation — Line  of  Division  —  The 
Missouri  a  Border  Conference  —  Vote  on  Adhering  North  or 
South  nearly  Unanimous — The  Disaffected — Covenant  Breakers 
— The  M.  E.  Church  in  Missouri  after  the  Division — Her  Minis 
ters  and  Members  —  How  Regarded  —  Relative  Strength  of  the 
Two  Churches  in  Numbers  and  Property — Sympathy — Perse 
cution — Tenacity  in  Spite  of  Opposition — Success  the  only  Revenge 
— The  Class  of  Northern  Methodist  Preachers — Their  Connection 
with  Clandestine  Efforts  to  Free  the  Slaves— Their  Condemnation 
and  their  Secret  Service — Character  of  the  Old  Missourians — 
Their  Vindication — Northern  Methodists  Condemned  for  being 
Secret  Political  Partisans,  and  not  for  Preaching  the  Gospel — The 
Anti-Slavery  Element  in  Missouri  Ten  Years'  before  the  War- 
Lawful  vs.  Clandestine  Means — "Underground  Railroad"  and 
other  Nefarious  Schemes  to  Run  off  the  Slaves  of  Missouri — These 
Things  Condemned  by  the  Anti-Slavery  Party— Public  Meetings 
of  Citizens  in  the  Interest  of  Order  and  Peace. 


CONTENTS.  17 

CIIAPTEE    VI. 
FROM  1845  TO   1861,  CONTINUED. 

Responsibility  of  Ministers,  Editors  and  Publishers — Perversion  of 
Facts,  a  Double  Guilt — Public  Meetings — Presses  Mobbed — Fabius 
Township  Meeting  in  1854 — llev.  Mr."  Sellers — Review  of  the  Pre 
amble  and  Resolutions — Meeting  at  Rochester,  Andrew  County — 
Three  Facts  Affirmed  of  these  Meetings — The  Best  Citizens  Con 
trolled  Them — What  the  Author  of  the  Fabius  Township  Resolu 
tions  Says — Jackson  Seminary  in  Cape  Girardcau  County — The 
Jefferson  City  Land  Company  and  the  Great  Northern  Methodist 
University — The  Transaction  Transparent — Resolution  of  Missouri 
Conference  of  1858— A.  Bewley— The  True  Facts  in  his  Case- 
That  he  was  Hanged  at  For!  Worth,  Texas,  not  for  being  a  Minister 
of  the  Gospel,  but  for  Complicity  in  the  most  Horrible  Crimes — 
The  Facts  Analyzed — The  Bailey  Letter — Bishop  Morris — Dr. 
Elliott— Truth  is 'Mighty— Correct"  View  of  the  Relation  of  the  M. 
E.  Church  to  the  People  of  Missouri  prior  to  the  War. 

CHAPTEE    VII 

CHARACTER    OF    THE    STRIFE    IN    MISSOURI. 

Conflict  of  Sentiment — Party  Spirit — New  England  and  Missouri 
Fanatics — Fraternal  Blood — "Houses  Divided — Three  against  Two 
and  Two  against  Three" — Organized  Armies  and  Predatory  Brig 
ands — Bull  Run,  Seven  Pines,  The  Wilderness,  Gettysburg  and 
Vicksburg  Reproduced  on  a  small  scale  in  every  County  and  Cross 
Roads  in  Missouri — War  upon  Non-Combatants — The  Bloodiest 
Records — Ministers  of  the  Gospel — Their  Troubles  and  Perplex 
ities—Peculiar  Trials  and  Persecutions — Military  Fetters  put  upon 
the  Conscience — Disloyal  Prayers  and  Military  Orders. 

CIIAPTEE    VIII. 

ANOMALOUS  CONDITION  OF  THE  STATE — GREAT  EXCITEMENT. 

Border  Slave  State — Missouri  State  Convention — The  Last  Hope — 
Virginia  Convention — Missouri  would  not  Secede — Rights  in  the 
Union — Disappointment — Anomalous  Position — Governor  Jackson 


Lnsappom 
oral  Price 


and  General  Price— Great  Excitement — Ministers  Embarrassed — 
One  False  Step  Fatal — The  Sword  vs.  Sympathy — Why  the  Inno 
cent  and  Helpless  Suffered  more  in  Missouri  'than  Elsewhere — 
Constructive  Sympathy — Predatory  Bands — Hon.  Luther  J.  Glenn 
Commissioner  from  Georgia  —  The  Effect  of  the  Fall  of  Fort 
Sumter  and  President  Lincoln's  Proclamation — The  State  Officers, 
Legislature  and  IVlilitia  Adhere  South — Assemble  at  Neosho,  Pass 
an  Act  of  Secession,  Elect  Delegates  to  the  Confederate  Congress, 
etc.,  etc. — Preparations  for  War— Union  vs.  Price's  Army — State 
Convention  Meets  Again — Its  Acts  and  Doings— Two  State  Gov 
ernments — Sympathy,  Property  and  Plunder — Ministers  Again — 
2 


18  CONTENTS. 

Their  Course— Days  of  Fasting  and  Prayer— Conferences— Meet 
ing  in  St.  Charles— Resolutions— Prudence  and  Prayer— The  Press 
— Anti-Christ  Abroad — Central  Christian  Advocate  and  a  few 
Facts— Rev.  Mr.  Gardner— " Men  and  Brethren  Help"— State 
Convention  again  in  October— The  First  Oath  for  Ministers. 

CHAP TEE    IX. 

THE  PULPIT  AND  PRESS  ON  THE    SITUATION  IN  MISSOURI. 

Ministers  of  Peace— Course  Pursued  by  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advo 
cate—Rev.  Dr.  M' Anally  its  Editor— Candid,  Truthful,  Honest— 
The  Cause  of  its  Suppression,  and  the  Imprisonment  of  the  Editor 

Ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Labor  and  Pray  Earnestly 

for  Peace — Days  of  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer — Ministers 
who  became  Political  Partisans  had  no  use  for  such  days — "  Breath 
ing  out  Threatening  and  Slaughter" — Spirit  of  the  Northern 
Methodist  Press — False  Publications  for  a  Purpose — One  Mr.  John 
Stearns  and  the  Wtstern  Advocate — Glaring  Falsehoods — Excite 
ment  in  St.  Louis  and  Throughout  the  State — Persecution  of  Min 
isters  in  Kansas  and  Reign  of  Terror  along  the  Border — Rev.  "W. 
H.  Mobly  and  Rev.  John  Monroe  in  Southwest  Missouri — Sys 
tematic  Efforts  to  Break  up  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  Dis 
perse  her  Ministers — Editorial  in  St.  Louis  Advocate.— The  Cen 
tral  Again  —  Impressions  Abroad  —  Baptists  and  Presbyterians 
Implicated — "  Religion  in  Missouri" — Missouri  Conference  at 
Glasgow — St.  Louis  Conference  at  Arrow  Rock  nnd  Waveriy — 
Conference  Stampeded  by  the  Rumor  of  a  Gunboat — Author 
Arrested. 

CHAPTEE    X. 

PILLAGE,  PLUNDER,   BLACK-MAIL MURDER    OF    THE    REV.    J. 

FEWEL — 3,050  NEW  ENGLAND  CLERGYMEN. 

Indiscriminate  Robbery,  Pillage,  Arson  and  Murder — Banditti  and 
Revenge — Black-Mail  and  Espionage — Panic,  Depopulation  and 
Plunder — Demoralization — Yirtue  Sacrificed — Some  who  Would 
not  Bow  the  Knee  to  Moloch — God  had  an  Altar  and  Israel  a 
Priest — Persecution,  Arrest  and  Imprisonment  of  Revs.  J.  Ditzler, 
J.  B.  H.  Wooldridge  and  D.  J.  Marquis — Many  others  Suffered 
in  Like  Manner — Rev.  James  Fewel  Arrested,  Cruelly  Treated, 
and  Died  from  the  Effects  of  Inhuman  Treatment,  aged  Seventy- 
two  Years — Many  such  Yictims — The  True  Office  and  Work  of 
the  Ministry — Its  Spirit  and  Mission — Any  Departure  Unsettles 
the  Public  "Mind — A  Sad  Day  for  the  Country,  Church  and  State 
— Relations  and  Dependencies — Three  Thousand  and  Fifty  New 
England  Clergymen  Before  Congress — A  Solemn  Protest  and  its 
Effects — Then  and  Now — Ecclesiastical  Bodies  on  the  "State  of 
the  Country" — Ecclesiastical  Bummers  —  A  Settled  Policy  to 
Drive  the  Old  Ministers  out  of  the  State  — General  Halleck's 
Order. 


CONTENTS.  19 

CHAPTEE    XI. 

SEIZURE    OF    CHURCHES — CHURCHES  IN  KANSAS    CITY   AND 
INDEPENDENCE. 

Church  Property — Can  the  War  Revive  or  Create  Titles — Church 
Property  on  the  Border — Maysville,  Kentucky — Legal  Rights  of 
Property — Attainder— Honest  Inquiry — Eighth  Commandment — 
The  Truth  of  History—  Church  in  Kansas  City— North  Methodists 
--Faithful  Ladies— What  was  Said  at  the  Time— Some  who  were 
with  us  Went  out  from  us — Their  loss  our  gain — Church  in  Inde 
pendence —  How  they  Got  it  and  Why  they  Kept  it  —  The 
Former  Pastor— Why  he  left— Battle  of  "independence— "Black 
Thursday  " — A  Rev.  James  Lee — How  he  got  Possession  of  the 
Church— Rev.  Mr.  DeMott— How  he  got  Possession  of  the  Par 
sonage — A  Poor  Widow  Turned  Out  "by  Military  Order — Strategy 
—Rev.  M.  M.  Pugh  Demands  the  Property— Why  Refused— Re 
course  to  the  Civil  Courts — Statement  of  the  Case  by  Counsel — 
Side  Scenes — Extracts  from  the  St.  Louis  Advocate — This  Pro 
perty  in  the  Statistics  of  Northern  Methodism  —  Action  of  the 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  Conferences,  M.  E.  Church,  on  the  Subject 
— Reflections. 

CHAPTEK    XII. 

CHURCH   SEIZURES — CONTINUED. 

Church  at  Lexington — Suit  Brought  for  it  by  the  Methodist  Church 
—Statement  of  Mr.  Sawyer— Suit  Dismissed— Salem,  Arrow  Rock, 
California  and  other  Churches — Lagrange  Church  History — How 
the  Church  North  Borrowed  and  then  Seized  it — Notice  Served — 
Colonel  W.  M.  Redding  the  "Faithful  Guardian  "—Rev.  W.  C, 
Stewart— Christian  Charity— What  a  Southern  Methodist  Says— 
Central,  Advocate — Mr.  Stewart's  "Honor"  Transmitted — Suit  for 
Possession — Arbitration— Louisiana  Church — Its  History  and  how 
it  was  Seized — Civil  Courts  and  Church  Trustees — Names  Forged 
— Counter  Petition  —  Decision  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas — 
Supreme  Court  of  Missouri — History  of  the  Case — Opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court — S.  S.  Allen,  Esq.,  on  Church  and  State — Rulings 
of  the  Court — The  Case  Reversed — Efforts  to  Compromise — Five 
Years'  Possession — Reported  in  Church  Statistics — Supplement — 
Able  Argument  of  Smith  S.  Allen,  Esq. 

CHAPTEE    XIII. 

CHURCH    SEIZURES — CONTINUED. 

Church  in  Boonville — One  of  the  Oldest  Religious  Centers — Rev.  J. 
N.  Pierce  and  his  Exploits — "An  Honest  Looker  On"  in  the  St. 
Louis  Christian  Advocate — Circuit  Court  vs.  County  Court  and  J. 
N.  Pierce — Supreme  Court — Howard  et  al.  vs.  Pierce — Report 


20  CONTENTS. 

and  Opinion— Circuit  Court  Sustained — John  N.  Pierce  et  al.  Ex 
hibited  in  no  Enviable  Light — Legal  History  of  the  Case — Decision 
— Points  to  be  .Noted — Moral  Travestie — Judgment  of  Posterity — 
Church  in  Sprinc/field — How  Obtained— How  Long  Used — How 
Released — Particulars  Reported  by  a  Committee  of  the  St.  Louis 
Conference—  Church  in  Potosi— Statement  of  W.  S.  Woodard— 
Plattsburg,  Fillmore,  Macon,  Glasgow  and  other  Churches  — 
Strange  Assertion  —  Statistical  Value  of  Churches  Seized  over 
$100,000— How  Restored — Property  Rights  Secured  to  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South — Great  Moral  Courage  or  "Hard  Cheek" — "Mak 
ing  History" — Martyrdom  of  Principle, 

CHAPTEK    XIY. 

CHURCH  SEIZURES  CONTINUED  AND  MADE  GENERAL. 

War  Claims  of  Northern  Methodists  Settled  by  Ecclesiastical  Black- 
Mail — Military  Mitres  and  Episcopal  Shoulder-Straps — The  Differ 
ence — The  "  Stanton-Ames  Order" — "  The  Great  Episcopal  Raid" 
— "Special  Order,  No.  15,"  from  Major  General  Banks — Official 
Board  of  Carondelet  Street  Church,  New  Orleans,  and  Bishop 
Ames — Episcopal  Power  Then  and  Ecclesiastical  Criticism  Now — 
Popular  Verdict — Abandoned  (?)  and  Embarrassed  Churches  and 
Ecclesiastical  ''Bummers" — Church  Extension  in  the  South — 
Letters  and  Extracts — Bishop  Clark  and  "  Church  Extension  Meet 
ings" — Does  the  End  Justify  the  Means,  or  Success  Satisfy  the 
Demands  of  Modern  Ethics? — Property  Acquired  by  the  M.  E. 
Church  in  the  South  in  a  few  Years — Four  Hundred  and  Eight 
Churches,  Eighteen  Parsonages  and  Eight  Literary  Institutions  in 
two  Years,  Worth  $446.059  00,  all  in  Five  Conferences — Opinions 
of  their  Leading  Men  and  Journals — Hon.  John  Hogan,  of  St. 
Louis,  Scuttles  the  Episcopal  Ram — Order  from  the  War  Depart 
ment,  with  President  Lincoln's  Endorsement — Possible  Deception 
— Rev.  Dr.  Keener,  of  New  Orleans,  Sues  for  the  Churches  of 
Louisiana  four  Months — McKendree  Church,  Nashville,  Vacated, 
4'by  Order  from  Bishop  Simpson"  —  Memorial  of  the  Holston 
Conference  M.  E.  Church,  South,  to  the  Chicago  General  Confer 
ence,  and  How  it  was  Treated — Action  of  Chicago  General  Con 
ference — "Stanton-Ames  Order"  Duplicated  for  the  Baptists — 
Conclusion — Sensible  Warning  from  the  St.  Louis  Anzeiger. 

CHAPTEK    XY. 

MARTYRDOM  —  REVS.     J.     M.     PROCTOR,     M.    ARRINGTON,     J. 


Philosophy  of  Martyrdom, —  Living  Martyrs  —  Names  Made  Im 
mortal  by  Persecution  —  Martyrs  of  Missouri  —  Difference 
Between  Martyrs  for  the  Testimony  of  Jesus,  only  Questions 
of  Time  and  Place— The  Spirit  the  Same  Everywhere— Causes 
—  Explanatory  Remarks— JRei;.  James  M.  Proctor  Arrested 


CONTENTS  21 

Coming  out  of  the  Pulpit — Connection  with  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  iiis  only  Offense — Kept  in  Prison  for  Weeks,  then  Released 
—•Rev.  Marcus  Arlington — Chaplain — Insulted — Kept  in  Alton 
Prison — Rev.  John  McQlothlin — Petty  Persecution  and  Tyranny 
— Rev.  James  Penn — Meeting  Broken  Up — Driven  from  His  own 
Churches  by  a  Northern  Methodist  Preacher  .Leading  an  Armed 
Mob — Persecution — Prayer. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

REVS.  W.  CLEAVELAND  AND  JESSE  BIRD. 

Ministers  of  other  Churches  in  the  Fellowship  of  Suffering  and  on  the 
Rolls  of  Martyrdom — Rev.  Win.  Cleaveland  Arrested  for  Preach 
ing  in  a  Kebel  Camp — Imprisoned  and  Insulted — Made  to  Pray  for 
Mr.  Lincoln  on  a  Loyal  Cannon — Kev.  Captain  Cox,  a  Northern 
Methodist  Preacher,  liis  Persecutor — Other  Indignities — Indicted, 
Arrested  and  Arraigned  as  a  Common  Felon  for  Preaching  without 
taking  the  ''Test  Oath" — Rev.  Jesse  Bird  Arrested,  Silenced  and 
Banished — Losses,  Exposure  and  Hardships  of  his  Family — Re 
turns — Arrested  and  put  in  Jail  for  Preaching  without  taking  the 
"Test  Oath" — Public  Indignation — The  Most  Virulent  Persecu 
tors  Subsequently  Elevated  to  the  Highest  Civil  Offices. 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

ELDERS  J.  DUVAL,  ISAAC  ODELL  AND  ALLEN    SISK. 

Elder  James  Duval — His  Own  Statement — Endorsement — Minister 
of  the  Regular  Baptist  Church — Arrested  at  Midnight — Suffered 
Much — Passes  and  l^prmits — Assessment  for  Military  Purposes — 
Arrest  of  Elder  G.  W.  Stout — Elder  Duval  again  Arrested — Sent 
to  Chillicothe — Charge,  Trial  and  Acquittal— Making  History — 
Re-arrested  at  New  Garden — Heavy  Bond — In  Court  for  not  Tak 
ing  the  Oath — Met  others  in  the  Same  Condemnation — Isaac  Odell 
and  Allen  Sisk  under  Indictment  with  Elder  Duval — Estebb,  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney — Dunn  &  Garver  for  the  Defense — Baptist 
Church  at  New  Garden— Trial  of  their  Pastor,  Elder  Isaac  Odell, 
for  not  taking  the  Oath — Acquitted -The  Convicted — Division  of 
the  Church — Troubles — Non-Fellowship. 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

WOOLDRIDGE,  MARQUIS;  PUGH  AND   BREEDING. 

Exceptional  Distinction — Revs.  J.  B.  H.  Wooldrige,  D.  J.  Marquis 
and  Geo.  N.  Johnson  Arrested,  Abused  and  Imprisoned  for  Asso 
ciating  Together—  Rev.  M.  M.  Puah  Arrested  and  Imprisoned — 
Arrested  Three  Times— Indicted— Northern  Methodists  Implicated 
in  his  Persecutions — Flags  over  Pulpits  by  Military  Orders — Efforts 
to  Force  the  Consciences  of  Ministers — A  Caustic  Note — ''Der 


22  CONTENTS. 

Union  Vlag  on  Per  Secesh  Church"—  A  Minister's  "Wife  Ordered 
to  Make  a  Shroud  for  a  Dead  Union  Soldier  —  Keen  lletort  —  An 
Old  Minister  in  a  Rebel  Camp—  How  he  "Went  Dead"  and 
"Saved  his  Bacon"  and  Potatoes  —  Rev.  J.  M.  Breeding  —  Armed 
Men  Visit  him  at  Midnight—  Order  him  to  Leave  the  Country  in 
Six  Days  because  he  was  a  Southern  Methodist  Preacher  —  Arrested 
at  Church  bv  Lieutenant  Combs—  A  Parley  —  Men  said  if  They 
were  not  Permitted  to  Shoot  They  would  Eg:g  Him—  Waylaid  by 
Soldiers  to  Assassinate  Him—  Providential  Escape—  Waylaid  the 
Second  Time,  and  Providential  Escape  —  Move  to  Macon  County  — 
Further  Troubles  —  Reflections. 

CHAPTEE    XIX. 

REVS.  R.  N.  T.  HOLLIDAY  AND  GREEN  WOODS. 


Rev.  R.  N.  T.  Hobday—  Statement  of  his  Persecutions  Furnished 
by  Dr.  Richmond,  a  Federal  Officer—  Could  not  War  upon  the 
Institutions  of  Heaven—  Mr.  Hollidav  aloof  from  Politics—  Mis 
construed—  General  Win.  P.  Hull  and  his  Militia  Proclamation- 
General  Hall  and  Mr.  Hollidav—  General  Bassett—  Rev.  Wm. 
Toole,  Provost  Marshal,  and  Mr.  Hollidav—  A  Renegade—  Platte 
City  Burned  by  Jennison  and  Mr.  H.  Ordered  to  be  Shot  on  Sight 

—  He  Escapes—  Is  Arrested  in  Clinton  County  —  Again  Ordered  to 
"be  Shot  —  Escapes  to  Illinois  —  Returns  in  1865—  Goes  to  Shelbyville 
and  is  Indicted  for  Preaching  Without  Taking  the  Oath  —  Crimes 
of  the  War  —  Common  Law  Maxim  Reversed—  Prominent  Minis 
ters  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Assumed  to  be  Guilty  of  Treason 
•  —  Murder  of  Rtv.  Green  Woods  —  Birth,  Early  Ministry  and  Gen 
eral  Character  —  Gives  up  his  District  —  Retires  to  his  Farm  in  Dent 
County  —  Affecting  Account  of  his  Murder  given  by  his  Daughter 

—  Extract  from  a  Letter  Written  by  his  Wife  —  Details  Published 
in  the  St.  Louis  Advocate  of  June  13,  1866  —  Reflections. 

CHAPTEE    XX. 

REVS.  A.   MONROE,  W.  M.  RUSH,  NATHANIEL  WOLLARD. 

Rev.  A.  Monroe,  the  Patriarch  of  Missouri  Methodism  —  Age.ITonor  and 
Sanctity  not  Exempt  from  Profanation  —  Mr.  Monroe  and  his  Wife 
Arrestetl  in  Fayette  —  Mrs.  Monroe's  Trials  and  Witty  Retorts  —  How 
Mr.  Monroe  Escaped  the  Bond  —  Robbed  of  Every  thing  by  Kansas 
Soldiers  in  1864—  An  Old  Man  Without  his  Mittens—  A  Tower  of 
Strength  —  "Our  Moses  "  —  Calls  the  Palmyra  Convention  —  Rev.  W. 
M.  Rush  —  The  Character  of  Missouri  Preachers  —  A  Native 
Missourian  —  Settles  in  Chillicothe  —  In  St.  Joseph  the  First  Year  of 
the  War  —  Caution  in  Public  Worship  —  An  Offensive  Prayer  by 
Rev.  W.  C.  Toole  —  General  Loan  Closes  the  Church  and  Deposes 
Mr.  Rush  from  the  Ministrv  by  Military  Order  —  General  W.  P. 
Hall  vs.  Mr.  Rush—  Hall  Publishes  a  Letter  that  Denies  Mr.  Rush 
Protection,  and  Exposes  him  to  Assassination  —  Mr.  Rush  Returns 
to  Chillicothe  —  His  House  a  Stable  and  his  Home  a  Desolation  — 
Bold  Attempt  to  Assassinate  him  —  Correspondence  with  General 


CONTENTS.  23 

Hall— Goes  to  St.  Louis — Masonic  Endorsement — In  Charge  of  the 
Mound  Church — Will  Hoar  of  Him  Again — Rev.  Nathaniel  Wol- 
lard  Murdered  in  Dallas  County — Horrible  Details — Particulars — 
Reflections. 

CHAP  TEE    XXI. 

REV.   B.  H.   SPENCER. 

His  Character  and  Position  as  a  Minister — Order  of  Banishment — 
Interview  with  General  Merrill — Note  to  Colonel  Kettle — Cause 
of  Banishment — Letter  to  A.  T.  Stewart — Provost  Marshall  at 
Danville — Frank.  Manly  Reply— Second  Letter  to  Mr.  Stewart, 
and  Petition  to  General  McKean — The  Latter  Treated  with  Silent 
Contempt— Strong-  Loyal  Petition  Endorsed  by  H.  S.  Lane,  U.  S. 
Senator,  and  0.  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  Indiana — "Red  Tape" — 
Petition  Returned— Hon.  S.  C.  Wilson  Counsel  for  the  Exiles — 
General  Schotield  Finally  and  Unconditionally  Revokes  the  Order 
of  Banishment — Indictment  for  Preaching  Without  Taking  the 
"Test  Oath." 

CHAPTBE    XXII. 

REVS.   D.   B.   COOPER,  H.   N.  WATTS  AND   T1IOS.   GLANVILLE. 

Rev.  D.  B.  Cooper — Attempt  Made  to  Ride  him  on  a  Rail — Defeated 
by  the  Timely  Appearance  of  Soldiers — Particulars  Furnished  by 
Dr.  N".  W.  Harris— Rev.  H.  N.  Watts— A.  Native  of  Missouri- 
Efforts  Made  to  Place  the  Old  Ministers  under  Disability  or  Run 
them  out  of  the  State — Mr.  Watts  Arrested  —  Silenced  —  Corre 
spondence  with  Provost  Marshals  Ried  and  Sanderson— "Test 
Oath"— Rf.v.  Thos.  G/anviMe—A.n  Englishman  by  Birth— Early 
Life — Peculiar  Trials — Manner  of  Life  as  a  Citizen  and  a  Minister 
— Driven  from  Home  in  1863 — Returns  and  Obtains  Written  Per 
mission  to  Preach — Warned  not  to  fill  his  Appointment  on  Sab 
bath,  September  20,  18(>3— Remains  at  Home — That  Night  he  is 
Shot  Through  his  Window — Shot  a  Second  and  Third  Time,  and 
Expires  Praying  for  his  Murderers — His  Eldest  Son  Shot  and 
Killed  the  Same  Night — Details  Furnished  by  J.  H.  Ross  and  Rev. 
John  Monroe — Conclusion. 


MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER   1. 

Missouri  Distinguished  for  Religious  Persecution — Religious  Liberty 
Secured  to  every  Citizen  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
by  every  State  Constitution,  and  every  Department  of  the  Federal 
and  State  Governments — Religious  Liberty  Protected  and  Enjoyed 
for  two  Centuries — The  Stephen  Girard  Will  Case — 3Ir.  Webster's 
Great  Speech — Religious  Rights  Defined — General  Assembly  of 
Missouri  Refuses  to  elect  a  Chaplain — Legalizes  Sunday  JBeer 
Gardens — A  Card — A  Renegade  Minister — Reflections. 

The  State  of  Missouri  is  justly  entitled  to  the  distinc 
tion  of  being  the  first  and  only  State  in  the  American 
Union  to  inaugurate  and  authorize  a  formal  opposition 
to  Christianity,  as  an  institution,  and  to  legalize  a 
systematic  proscription  and  persecution  of  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  as  a  class.  Her  constitution,  statute  books 
and  judicial  proceedings  alone  reproduce  the  ordi 
nances,  enactments  and  decisions  of  the  "  dark  ages," 
without  the  papal  superstitions  and  priestly  conscience. 
Her  prison  walls  and  dungeons  dark  have  revived  the 
horrors  of  Spain  without  the  Inquisition,  and  her  civil 
and  military  officers,  her  courts  and  mobs,  have  re- 
enacted  the  cruel  tyranny  and  the  religious  intolerance 
of  Austria,  with  the  papal  "  concordat "  left  out. 

Her  fertile  soil  has  been  stained  with  the  blood  of 
real  martyrs,  and  the  "  seed  of  the  church  "  has  been 


26  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

scattered  all  over  her  broad  prairies  and  along  her 
winding  streams.  Unmarked  graves  and  marble  monu 
ments  here  and  there  fix  the  eye  of  God  as  he  watches 
the  dust  of  his  martyred  servants  awaiting  the  resur 
rection,  and  a  double  portion  of  his  Spirit  is  given  to 
the  living  watchman  in  answer  to  the  brother's  blood 
that  cries  from  the  ground. 

The  Spirit  of  the  Divine  Master,  in  whose  service 
they  fell,  inspires  charity  for  the  living,  and  will  not 
rebuke  the  tears  that  fall  for  the  dead.  We  have  both, 
and  it  is  profitable  to  indulge  them,  while  we  accord  to 
Missouri  the  distinction  she  has  justly  won  in  reviving 
the  laws  and  repeating  the  religious  persecutions  which 
an  enlightened  Christianity  vainly  hoped  had  passed 
away  with  the  barbarous  times  which  produced  them. 

The  right  to  worship  G-od  without  molestation,  ac 
cording  to  the  dictates  of  conscience,  was  not  only 
secured  by  the  Federal  and  State  Constitutions,  but  was 
always  sacredly  preserved  and  defended  by  the  three 
co-ordinate  branches  of  the  Federal  (Government,  and 
by  the  executive,  judicial  and  legislative  departments 
of  the  several  State  governments,  until  it  had  become 
so  thoroughly  interwoven  with  every  form  and  feature, 
every  principle  and  fiber  of  our  institutions,  and  had 
penetrated  so  deeply  and  permeated  so  generally  the 
popular  heart,  that  its  defenses  were  considered  im 
pregnable  and  its  sacredness  inviolable. 

Every  attempt  to  abridge  the  religious  liberties  in 
volved  in  the  rights  of  conscience,  from  whatever 
quarter  and  under  whatever  disguise,  has  been  met 
and  resisted  by  a  public  sentiment  that  pronounced  it 
the  most  dangerous  and  unwarranted  invasion  of  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  27 

dearest  rights  of  American  citizens.  The  enactment 
of  laws  to  restrain  the  liberties  of  the  citizen  in  any 
other  direction  might  be  tolerated,  but  whenever  and 
wherever  the  enactment  of  laws,  the  decision  of  courts 
or  the  exercise  of  power  have  infringed  upon  the  rights 
of  conscience,  or  placed  religious  institutions  under  dis 
ability^  the  American  people  have  moved  to  a  resistance 
that  subordinated  all  minor  differences  and  distinctions 
arid  put  their  hearts  and  lives,  their  all,  upon  the 
defense. 

The  strenuous  efforts  made  to  break  the  will  of 
Stephen  Girard,  in  the  courts  of  Pennsylvania,  in  1839 
and  '41,  and  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
in  184-1,  are  too  fresh  in  the  minds  of  American  jurists 
and  many  of  the  American  people  to  require  more 
than  a  reference  to  one  single  item  in  this  connection 
as  an  illustration. 

The  founding  of  the  institution  in  the  city  of  Phila 
delphia  that  bears  the  name  of  Girard,  and  his  princely 
bequest  for  that  purpose,  would  have  passed  his  name 
down  to  the  o-enerations  to  come  as  one  of  the  great 

O  O 

benefactors  of  his  race,  but  for  one  restrictive  clause  in 
his  will;  and  it  was  in  the  light  of  that  clause  that  the 
case  assumed  a  national  importance,  and  enlisted  some 
of  the  ablest  advocates  of  the  American  bar,  prominent 
amongst  whom  was  Mr.  Webster. 

After  providing  for  all  the  college  buildings  that 
would  be  necessary,  and  the  enclosure  of  the  grounds 
by  high  stone  walls,  with  iron  gates  for  ingress  and 
egress,  he  adds  the  following  restrictions  : 

" Secondly — I  enjoin  and  require  that  no  ecclesiastic, 
missionary  or  minister  of  any  sect  whatever  shall 


28  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ever  hold  or  exercise  any  station  or  duty  whatever  in 
the  said  college;  nor  shall  any  such  person  ever  be  ad 
mitted  fur  any  purpose,  or  as  a  visitor,  within  the 
premises  appropriated  to  the  purposes  of  said  college." 

Mr.  Girard  had  a  right  to  dispose  of  his  estate  in  any 
way  that  his  wisdom  might  direct,  provided,  however, 
the  rights  of  others  were  duly  respected ;  and  Mr. 
Webster's  unanswerable  argument  clearly  sets  forth  the 
relations  of  Christianity  to  the  State,  and  shows  that 
such  disabilities  are  in  direct  conflict  with  the  institu 
tions  of  the  country,  against  the  public  policy  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  every  other  State  in  which  Christianity 
is  recognized  as  the  law  of  the  land,  and  must  be  sub 
versive  of  the  dearest  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people. 

What  is  the  value  of  Mr.  Girard' s  bequest,  however 
great  or  munificent,  when  it  touches  the  very  founda 
tions  of  human  society — when  it  touches  the  foundations 
of  religious  liberty,  of  public  law,  and  endangers  the 
well-being  of  the  State  ? 

The  restrictive  provisions  of  Mr.  Girard's  will,  in  the 
opinion  of  Mr.  Webster,  distinctly  repelled  Christianity 
in  the  person  of  its  accredited  ministers ;  for  what 
ever  proscribes  the  minister  of  Christianity  proscribes 
Christianity  itself.  The  ministry  is  a  part  of  Chris 
tianity,  divinely  instituted  and  authorized,  and  whoever 
makes  war  upon  ministers  of  the  gospel,  as  a  class, 
makes  war  upon  the  Christianity  they  teach  and  rep 
resent. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  the  State  of  Missouri,  by 
her  military  and  civil  officers,  her  conventions,  her 
General  Assembly  and  her  courts,  has  fairly  won  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  29 

unenviable  distinction  here  announced;  the  painful 
history  of  which  is  recorded  in  these  pages. 

The  ground  work  of  this  persecution  was  laid  in  the 
public  mind  years  before  its  manifestation.  The  first 
out-croppings  of  the  anti-Christian  spirit  was  in  the 
session  of  the  General  Assembly  of  1858-9;  in  declining 
to  elect  a  Chaplain,  and  in  the  refusal  to  repeal  what 
was  called  the  " Sunday  Law."  The  encouragement 
given  to  this  infidel  spirit  by  a  large  portion  of  the 
press  of  the  State,  and  by  many  so-called  benevolent 
associations  of  foreigners,  and  from  other  influential 
sources  hereafter  noticed,  prepared  the  public  mind  for 
the  legislation,  the  military  and  civil  despotism,  and  the 
mob-violence  which  authorized  and  executed  a  system 
of  persecution,  the  history  of  which  presents  a  cata 
logue  of  crime  and  scenes  of  blood  and  murder  dis 
graceful  to  the  State  and  revolting  to  the  whole  civilized 
world. 

The  refusal  of  the  General  Assembly  to  elect  a  chap 
lain,  Deccmber;  1858,  derives  its  importance;  riot  from 
the  fact,  but  the  animus  of  the  debates,  and  the  senti 
ment  reflected  by  the  action. 

The  journal  of  the  House  of  EepresentativeS;  of  Dec. 
29th;  1858;  contains  the  following: 

"  EVENING  SESSION. — Mr.  King,  of  St.  Charles,  offered 
the  following  resolution  :  Resolved,  That  the  House  do 
now  proceed  to  the  election  of  chaplain.  Mr.  Edwards, 
of  Dallas,  offered  the  following  amendment  to  the  reso 
lution  :  'And  that  the  individual  members  of  this  House 
pay  said  chaplain  -for  his  services  out  of  their  private 
means;'  which,  on  motion  of  Mr.  Sitton,  was  tabled  by 
a  vote  of  79  to  43. 


30  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

"Dec.  30th,  1858. — The  House  resumed  the  consider 
ation  of  the  regular  order  of  business,  viz.,  the  election 
of  chaplain,  when  Mr.  King,  of  St.  Charles,  nominated 
Mr.  Leftwich;  Mr.  Brisco,  of  Cass,  nominated  Mr. 
"Williams;  Mr.  Boulware,  of  Callaway,  nominated  Mr. 
McGuire ;  Mr.  Lenox,  of  Miller,  nominated  Mr.  Lit- 
singer;  Mr.  Davis,  of  Buchanan,  nominated  Mr.  Welch. 
Mr.  Ament  moved  to  reconsider  the  vote  on  the  adop 
tion  of  the  resolution  to  proceed  to  the  election  of 
chaplain,  pending  which  motion  Mr.  Morris,  of  Barton, 
nominated  Mr.  Crow.  Mr.  AVelch  moved  to  lay  the 
motion  to  reconsider  on  the  table,  which  was  negatived 
by  a  vote  of  49  to  69. 

"  AFTERNOON  SESSION. — Mr.  Ament  offered  the  follow 
ing  resolution  as  a  substitute  for  the  resolution  of  Mr. 
King,  of  St.  Charles,  in  regard  to  the  election  of  chap 
lain  for  the  House  :  'Resolved,  That  the  speaker  be 
authorized  to  invite,  each  alternate  week,  the  services 
of  the  respective  resident  ministers  of  this  city,  in  open 
ing,  daily,  this  House  with  prayer. '' 

This  resolution  awakened  a  lively  discussion,  which 
consumed  much  of  the  time  of  the  three  succeeding 
days — at  a  cost  to  the  tax-payers  of  the  State  of  not  less 
than  320,000 — and  was  finally  passed  under  the  opera 
tion  of  the  previous  question.  Several  efforts  were 
made  afterward  to  reconsider,  but  to  no  effect.  The 
Senate,  after  some  discussion,  adopted  a  similar  resolu 
tion. 

The  debate  upon  this  resolution  was  very  spirited, 
and  drew  out  the  sentiments  of  the  people's  representa 
tives  quite  fully.  Party  lines  were  drawn  clearly 
between  the  chaplain  men  and  the  anti-chaplain  men, 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  31 

and  this  resolution  was  considered  by  both  parties  a 
compromise  upon  the  vexed  question.  But  why  com 
promise  such  a  question  ?  Why  make  it  a  vexed 
question  at  all  ?  Former  Legislatures  had  elected  chap 
lains  and  paid  them,  and  thus  recognized  Christianity, 
not  only  as  an  element  of  national  character,  but  as  an 
accepted  institution  of  the  State,  the  doctrines  of  which 
were  confessed  in  the  oath  of  office  and  in  all  judicial 
tribunals,  and  the  institutions  of  which  conserve  the 
highest  interests  of  public  weal,  as  they  appeal  to  the 
most  sacred  guardianship  of  the  State. 

If  the  position  taken  by  Mr.  "Webster,  in  his  great 
speech  before  the  Supreme  Court  of'  the  United  States, 
in  the  Girnrd  will  case,  is  accepted  as  true — and  it  is  so 
accepted  by  all  the  right-thinking  men  of  the  country — 
there  is  nothing  in  the  ]S"ew  Testament  more  clearly 
established  by  the  Author  of  Christianity  than  the  ap 
pointment  of  a  Christian  ministry;  that  the  ministry  is 
a  necessary  part  of  Christianity,  divinely  ordained  for 
its  propagation,  and  whoever  rejects  the  regularly 
authorized  minister  of  the  gospel  rejects  the  Christianity 
he  teaches  and  represents ;  whatever  repels  the  ministry 
repels  Christianity,  for  it  is  idle,  and  a  mockery  and  an 
insult  to  common  sense,  to  pretend  that  any  man  has 
respect  for  the  Christian  religion  who  yet  derides,  re 
proaches  and  stigmatizes  all  its  ministers  and  teachers. 

The  action  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  was 
spread  upon  the  journal,  but  the  animus  of  the  members 
could  only  be  gathered  from  the  speeches,  and  then 
only  by  one  who  was  present  to  hear  and  see.  The  kiss 
of  betrayal  precedes  crucifixion. 

It  Avtis  in  view  of  the  spirit  developed  by  this  action, 


32  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

more  than  the  action  itself,  that  three  of  the  resident 
ministers  of  the  city  held  a  council,  and  after  due  de 
liberation  published  the  following  card  in  the  city 
papers : 

"A    CABD. 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  resident  ministers  of  this  city, 
believing  that  the  discussion  just  closed  in  both  branches 
of  the  General  Assembly,  on  the  office  of  chaplain,  is  a 
virtual  repudiation  of  the  claims  of  Christianity  by  that 
body;  and  that  the  action  had  is  only  a  compromise 
measure,  designed  to  reconcile  the  hostility  of  members 
somewhat  to  that  office  j  and  believing  that  for  us  to 
comply  with  any  request  to  officiate  in  that  capacity, 
under  existing  circumstances,  will  compromise  the  dig 
nity  of  our  office  and  the  gospel  which  wTe  preach; 
therefore, 

"Resolved,  That  we  will  not  sacrifice  our  self-respect 
and  ministerial  dignity  to  the  enemies  of  Christianity 
by  officiating  in  the  office  of  chaplain  for  either  branch 
of  the  General  Assembly. 

(Signed)  "AY.  M.  LEFTWICH, 

Pastor  M.  E.  Church,  South. 
"S.    D.    LOUGHEED, 

Pastor  Presbyterian  Church. 
"E.  H.  WELLER, 

Eector  Episcopal  Church. 
"  JEFFERSON  CITY,  Mo.,  Dec.  31,  1858." 

It  is  due  alike  to  Christian  integrity,  ministerial 
fidelity  and  the  truth  of  history  to  state  that  Eev.  Mr. 
Longheed  did  subsequently  officiate  as  chaplain  to  the 
Senate,  upon  the  solicitation  of  one  or  two  members  of 
that  body,  and  under  the  operation  of  the  unrescinded 


MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI.  33 

action  of  December  31st,  1858,  after  he  had  solemnly 
affirmed  and  formally  announced  to  the  world,  through 
the  public  prints,  that  to  do  so  would  "compromise 
his  self-respect  and  ministerial  dignity." 

This  same  session  of  the  Legislature  was  made  famous 
by  the  failure  to  repeal  what  was  known  as  the  "  Sun 
day  Law/'  which  was  passed  merely  upon  its  title,  and 
in  disguise,  by  the  previous  session,  and  which  legalized 
the  opening  of  beer  gardens,  play-houses,  and  many 
other  places  of  drunken  licentiousness  on  the  Christian 
Sabbath  in  St.  Louis.  Pending  the  effort  to  repeal  this 
unchristian  law  the  discussions  in  both  Houses  and  in 
the  public  press  assumed  an  importance  and  a  gravity 
which  greatly  alarmed  the  Christian  people  of  the  State 
for  the  freedom  and  safety  of  all  religious  institutions, 
and  awakened  the  faithful  watchmen  upon  the  walls  to 
the  real  issues  that  the  enemies  of  Christianity  would 
make,  and  to  the  real  danger  that  threatened  the  peace 
and  well-being  of  society  in  the  not  distant  future. 


34  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 


CHAPTEE  II. 

Political  Excitement  of  1859  and  '60— Foreigners— Know-Nothingism 
—Foreign  Element  in  Politics — Class  legislation  to  Encourage 
Immigration,  Develop  the  Resources,  and  Subvert  the  Religious 
Institutions  of  the  State— German  Rationalists  and  Christianity— 
The  True  Interests  of  a  State — Modern  Spiritualism — Its  Preten 
sions—Phenomena —  Influence  upon  the  Credulous— Circles- 
Mediums— Agents— Lecturers— Free-Loveism— Thousands  of  Dis 
ciples — Midnight  Lamp  in  Thousands  of  Houses — Many  Turned 
from  the  Faith  to  Serve  Tables — Most  Dangerous  and 'Powerful 
Form  of  Infidelity — Free-Thinkers — A  Novel  Encounter  with  an 
"Improved  Monkey" — Napoleon's  "Moral  Combinations"  at 
"Work  upon  the  Public  Mind. 

Many  will  remember  with  unfeigned  regret  the 
political  excitement  that  began  to  agitate  the  whole 
country  in  1859,  and  which  increased  in  violence  and 
intensity  the  nearer  the  Presidential  election  of  1860 
was  approached. 

In  times  of  great  popular  excitement,  when  partisans 
are  using  their  utmost  efforts  to  carry  elections,  it  is 
less  surprising  than  hurtful  that  politicians  should  ap 
peal  for  support  to  every  class  of  citizens.  The  German 
population  of  St.  Louis,  St.  Charles,  Franklin,  Cole, 
and  some  other  counties  and  cities  had  increased  rapidly 
in  the  past  few  years,  and  now  for  the  first  time  began 
to  make  their  presence  and  power  felt  in  Missouri 
politics.  They  had  fairly  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
Know-Nothingism,  if,  indeed,  the  existence  and  labors 
of  that  singular  political  freak  did  not  precipitate  the 
foreign  born  citizens  into  a  distinct  political  element 
and  foist  them  into  political  prominence. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  35 

Being  courted,  and  flattered,  and  fawned  upon  by 
political  place-seekers,  they  were  easily  induced  to  be 
lieve  that  they  held  the  balance  of  power  at  the  ballot- 
box  in  many  of  the  largest  cities  of  the  State,  and  they 
began  to  claim  the  right,  not  only  to  vote,  but  to  be 
represented  as  a  distinct  class  in  the  city  and  State 
governments — to  hold  office  and  control  municipal 
patronage. 

To  secure  the  support  of  this  class  of  citizens  poli 
ticians  stood  ready  to  enact  special  laws  for  their  relief, 
to  grant  privileges  and  immunities  to  them  as  a  class, 
and  to  accommodate  their  social  peculiarities  and  re 
ligious  castes  and  creeds.  The  statutes  of  the  State  and 
the  ordinances  of  cities  show  that  they  were  the  privi 
leged  class,  and  that  class  legislation,  which  always 
endangers  the  well-being  of  society,  was  accommodated 
in  this  instance  to  those  peculiarities  of  the  foreign 
element  which  looked  to  the  subversion  of  the  Chris 
tian  institutions  of  the  State,  and  the  protection  of  an 
infidel  sentiment  that  dared  to  invade  the  sanctity  of 
the  Christian  Sabbath,  disturb  the  peace  of  Christian 
worshipers,  and  strike  down  the  supreme  authority  of 
the  Word  of  God  as  a  code  of  morals  and  a  system  of 
law. 

To  encourage  foreign  immigration  for  the  develop 
ment  of  the  resources  of  the  State,  to  build  railroads, 
open  coal  beds,  work  lead  mines  and  melt  iron  moun 
tains,  special  legislation  may  have  been  necessary,  but 
a  State  consists  of  something  other  than  broad,  fertile 
acres  for  agricultural  purposes,  or  coal  beds,  lead  mines, 
iron  mountains  and  railroads. 

These  may  be  fruitful  sources  of  material  wealth,  and 


36  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

may  be  necessary  to  support  and  sustain  a  vast  popula 
tion,  but  they  can  not  create  intelligence,  promote 
virtue,  regulate  the  social  system,  or  in  any  way  define 
and  adjust  the  higher  duties  and  prerogatives  of  citi 
zenship. 

The  wisest  legislation  protects  equally  the  rights  of 
all  and  confers  exclusive  privileges  upon  none,  and  the 
best  government  guarantees  equal  rights  to  all  its  citi 
zens. 

It  is  natural  to  expect  that  foreigners  coming  to  these 
shores  and  settling  in  these  States  would  accept  the 
institutions  with  the  protection  of  the  government,  and 
not  seek  to  supplant  the  institutions  of  the  State  that 
offers  them  home  and  shelter;  and  yet  it  will  not  be 
denied  that  the  foreigners  in  Missouri,  taking  advantage 
of  the  readiness  of  politicians  to  truckle  to  their  passions 
and  prejudices,  have  made  strong  demands  upon  the 
peculiar  institutions  of  the  State,  and  their  demands 
have  not  been  unheeded.  It  could  not  be  expected  that 
Germa-n  rationalists,  who  could  scarcely  speak  English 
well  enough  to  carry  on  the  most  ordinary  traffic,  would 
understand,  or  care  to  understand,  those  institutions  of 
the  State  which  characterized  the  State  as  a  Christian 
commonwealth. 

Nor  did  legislators,  politicians,  editors  or  preachers 
consider  the  moral  forces  they  were  starting  and  foster 
ing  for  evil,  and  the  subtle  agencies  that  would  work 
with  all  deceivableness  of  unrighteousness  in  them  that 
perish,  and  whose  coming  was  after  the  manner  of 
Satan,  with  all  power,  and  signs,  and  lying  wonders, 
deceiving  the  very  elect,  and  spending  its  force  and 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  37 

fury  upon  the  desecrated  altars  and  martyred  ministers 
of  Christianity. 

Other  and  different  agencies  were  at  work,  and  had 
been  for  years,  which  could  not  be  reached  or  affected 
by  State  legislation,  and  which  contributed  no  little  to 
that  state  of  the  public  mind  which  put  the  institutions 
and  ministers  of  Christianity  under  disability — what 
was  commonly  denominated  "  Spiritualism."  It  existed 
in  a  multitude  of  forms,  had  many  names,  and  mani 
fested  itself  in  many  strange  phenomena.  Professing 
to  hold  communication  with  the  spirit  world  and  re 
ceive  intelligence  from  departed  spirits,  it  appealed 
strongly  to  the  curious,  the  credulous  and  the  super 
stitious. 

Those  who  believed  in  the  supernatural,  or  whose 
hearts  of  grief  kept  them  near  the  "  region  and  shadow 
of  death/'  or  whose  caste  of  temperament  made  them 
supersentimental,  or  who,  by  some  constitutional  or 
cultivated  peculiarity,  easily  take  up  with  every  wild 
fancy  and  foolish  vagary  that  produces  a  new  and  novel 
sensation  ;  and  many  others,  too,  who  had  credit  for 
intelligence,  refinement  and  piety — and  as  for  that,  some 
of  the  most  gifted  minds  of  the  State — were  led  away 
by  it,  and  became  its  deceived  disciples,  in  one  form 
or  another,  without  suspecting  its  deceitful  moral 
tendencies. 

Lecturers  came  into  the  cities  and  traversed  the  State, 
circles  were  formed,  mediums  constituted,  spirits  rapped 
and  wrote,  tables  moved  and  turned,  and  men,  women 
and  children  forgot  their  meals,  and  stood  in  super 
stitious  awe  within  the  enchanted  circles.  Thousands 
of  people  lost  their  relish  for  the  Word  of  God  and  for- 


38  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

sook  his  altars  of  worship.  Men  neglected  their  fields, 
women  their  homes  and  children  their  schools,  and  for 
whole  days  and  nights  hung  with  bated  breath  upon  the 
supposed  communications  from  departed  spirits,  made 
often  through  the  most  ignorant  mediums.  ISTot  only 
in  the  cities  full,  but  throughout  the  vast  populations 
of  the  rural  districts,  all  classes  seemed  more  or  less 
affected  by  and  interested  in  it.  In  thousands  of  homes 
in  Missouri  the  midnight  lamp  shone  upon  tables  sur 
rounded  by  groups  and  circles  of  people  so  intent  upon 
the  unintelligible  incantations  and  messages  of  spiritual 
ism,  so-called,  that  sleep  was  banished  from  swollen 
eyes  and  pillows  brought  no  rest  to  aching  heads.  By 
it  many  were  disqualified  alike  for  secular,  domestic 
and  religious  duties. 

A  peculiarity  of  spiritualism  was  that  night  and  dark 
ness  were  necessary  to  evoke  the  spirits.  They  would 
rarely  communicate  to  mortals  in  the  day  time,  or  per 
form  any  very  remarkable  feats,  such  as  playing  on 
musical  instruments,  untying  mediums,  singing  in  the 
air,  etc.,  except  in  total  darkness.  Evil  spirits,  like  evil 
men,  "love  darkness  rather  than  light,  because  their 
deeds  are  evil." 

This  modern  spiritualism — neither  the  history  nor 
philosophy  of  which  it  is  necessary  here  to  discuss — 
organized  itself  into  bands,  circles  and  societies  of  men 
and  women  in  the  larger  cities,  had  their  places  of 
secret  nocturnal  meetings,  rented  halls  for  public  Sab 
bath  exercises,  had  their  rituals  and  creeds,  their  priests 
and  prophets,  their  altars,  incantations  and  genuflexions, 
which  answered  to  some  sort  of  public  worship.  The 
first  female  lecturers  and  public  speakers  were  spiritual- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  39 

ists,  and  in  the  spiritualists7  church,  so-called,  women 
are  the  high-priests  ;  and  the  scriptural  teachings  in  re 
gard  to  the  relation  of  men  and  women  and  their  duties 
in  the  church  are  reversed. 

Indeed,  to  call  them  a  church  at  all  is  a  misnomer, 
and  a  shameful  reflection  upon  every  idea,  principle  and 
function  of  a  true  church  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  by  be 
lieving  in  a  revelation  direct  from  departed  spirits  in 
the  spirit  world  they  reject  God's  revelation. 

They  commissioned  mediums  to  write,  women  and 
men  indiscriminately  to  preach,  to  heal  the  sick,  to  see 
through  the  material  and  reveal  the  spiritual,  to  break 
up  the  marriage  relation,  to  destroy  parental  affection, 
to  form  new  standards  of  private  and  social  virtue,  to 
disturb  and  destroy  all  the  old  foundations  and  safe 
guards  of  society,  and  reconstruct  the  social  system 
upon  the  modern  ideas  of  socialism  and  the  most  offen 
sive  forms  of  free-loveism. 

Religious  liberty  with  them  meant  social  licentious 
ness,  and  the  social  virtues  were  sacrificed  to  the  lustful 

passions. 

These  things  can  not  all  be  affirmed  of  all  spiritualists, 
and  yet  the  inevitable  tendency  is  the  same,  and  the 
extremest  consequences  are  legitimate.  To  say  that 
thousands  of  people  in  Missouri,  through  the  subtle 
agencies  of  spiritualism,  renounced  their  religion,  for 
sook  the  church,  neglected  to  read  God's  Word,  turned 
themselves  away  from  paths  of  piety  and  works  of 
righteousness  to  serve  tables,  and  became  downright 
infidels,  is  not  half  of  the  whole  truth.  To  a  large  ex 
tent  the  minds  of  men  became  detached  from  the  foun- 


40  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

dations  of  Divine  truth,  and  wandered,  like  the  "  unclean 
spirit,  seeking  rest  and  finding  none." 

Systems  of  infidelity,  and  infidelity  without  system, 
sprang  up  in  every  direction  and  found  supporters 
amongst  those  that  were  least  suspected,  and  the  church 
began  to  tremble  for  the  "faith  which  was  once  de 
livered  unto  the  saints."  Free-thinking,  so-called,  took 
the  place  of  solid,  religious  faith,  and  every  form  of 
doctrine  received  encouragement  in  the  public  mind. 
The  tendency  in  the  public  mind  to  skepticism  was 
never  more  alarming,  and  the  mystic  vagaries  of  Andrew 
Jackson  Davis  stood  in  defiant  competition  with  the 
New  Testament.  Lecturers  appeared  in  every  city  and 
centre  of  population,  haranguing  the  people  upon  the 
vain  philosophies  of  men  and  questions  of  science,  falsely 
so-called,  seeking  to  turn  away  their  ears  from  the 
truth  unto  fables,  and  "  doting  about  questions  and 
strifes  of  words"  that  would  and  did  disturb  the  foun 
dations  of  godliness.  Nor  could  both  the  religious  press 
and  pulpit  countervail  their  influence  upon  the  public 
mind.  Infidel  clubs  and  associations  were  formed  under 
different  disguises,  and  many  mischief-makers  began  to 
believe  and  teach  " unwholesome  doctrines"  and  de 
ceive  the  ignorant  and  unwary.  It  was  a  common  thing 
to  hear  of  men  lecturing  in  the  principal  towns  on 
spiritualism,  a  higher  civilization,  phrenology,  patho 
logy,  physiology,  hygiene,  and  other  kindred  topics, 
and  selling  maps,  charts  and  cheap  books.  In  some 
places  they  drove  a  brisk  trade,  and  set  all  the  old 
women — and  young  ones,  too — men  and  boys  to  talking 
and  querying  over  the  new  ideas  and  theories  advanced 
by  these  flippant,  and  often  immodest  lecturers. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  41 

The  character  of  such  teachings  can  not  better  be 
illustrated  than  by  relating  a  somewhat  novel  adventure 
which  the  author  had  in  the  spring  of  1859  with  one  of 
these  lecturers. 

While  stationed  in  Jefferson  City  I  was  invited  by 
the  Moniteau  County  Bible  Society  to  deliver  a  lecture 
in  California  on  the  Bible  cause,  and  aid  them  in  rais 
ing  funds  to  supply  the  destitute  of  the  county  with  the 
Word  of  God.  Arriving  in  California  by  the  afternoon 
train  I  was  informed  that  a  gentleman,  a  stranger,  had 
been  there  lecturing  for  several  evenings,  and  would 
lecture  again  that  evening,  in  a  public  hall.  My  in 
formants  had  not  heard  him,  and  could  not  tell  exactly 
his  subject  or  his  object.  When  informed  that  his 
lectures  were  free,  and  that  he  was  selling  some  kind 
of  books,  I  was  not  long  at  a  loss  to  reckon  his  moral 
latitude  and  longitude,  and,  indeed,  to  " guess"  whence 
he  came,  and  what  he  came  for,  and  hoped  that  some 
lucky  chance  would  throw  us  together. 

The  meeting  of  the  Eible  Society  that  night  was 
quite  a  success,  but  my  anxiety  to  see  the  lecturer 
seemed  fated  to  disappointment.  The  next  morning, 
in  company  with  a  friend.  I  went  to  the  hotel,  near  the 
depot,  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  down  train.  A  goodly 
number  of  gentlemen  sat  and  stood  about  in  the  public 
room  awaiting  the  train  also.  My  friend  soon  opened 
the  way  (as  he  knew  many  of  them)  for  an  appeal  to 
them  for  contributions  to  the  Bible  cause,  to  which  they 
pretty  generally  declined  to  respond.  About  this  time 
a  rather  queer  looking  genius  entered  the  hotel  from 
the  street,  hastily  and  boisterously  relieving  himself  at 
once  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  meal  sack  half  filled  with 


42  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

books,  and  several  rather  pert  exclamations  and  gen 
eral  salutations,  taking  a  seat  near  me.  I  did  not  at 
first  suspect  his  identity,  but  his  inveterate  loquacity 
brought  him  into  notice,  and  my  eye  soon  measured  a 
small,  thin-visaged,  sharp-nosed,  squint-eyed,  thin-lipped, 
cadaverous,  nervous  specimen  of  humanity,  a  stranger 
to  every  sense  of  modesty,  propriety  and  decency,  and 
who  believed  that  with  himself  all  wisdom  would  die. 
He  soon  learned  that  I  lived  in  Jefferson  City,  and  the 
following  conversation  occurred.  Turning  to  me,  whom 
he  had  evidently  been  regarding  for  some  time  with 
uncivil  curiosity,  he  said  : 

"  You  live  in  Jefferson  City  ? " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"  On  your  way  home  now  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Will  you  be  good  enough  to  make  an  announce 
ment  for  me  to  lecture  in  your  city  next  week  ?  " 

"Well,  I  don't  know.  Our  people  are  not  good 
lecture-goers." 

"  Why,  don't  you  think  I  can  have  a  good  house  ?  " 

"  That  depends  upon  circumstances." 

"What  circumstances?     My  object  is  to  do  good." 

"What  subject  do  you  propose  to  lecture  on?"  I 
asked. 

"Various  subjects;  but  especially  treating  of  the  con 
struction  and  functions  of  the  human  body,  the  laws  of 
physiology  and  hygiene." 

"You  may  possibly  do  some  good  by  lecturing  on 
such  subjects,"  said  I,  "and  as  we  both  are  trying  to  do 
good,  but  in  different  ways,  possibly  if  you  will  help 
me  I  may  be  able  to  help  you." 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  43 

By  this  time,  of  course,  we  had  the  eager  attention 
of  all  present. 

"  How  can  I  help  you  ? "  he  inquired. 

"I  am  trying/'  I  replied,  "to  raise  money  to  supply 
the  destitute  of  this  county  with  the  Bible,  and  as  I 
have  applied  to  all  of  these  gentlemen  for  help,  perhaps 
you  would  give  me  something/' 

"No,  indeed,"  said  he,  with  emphasis,  "I  would 
rather  give  my  money  to  have  all  the  Bibles  in  the 
county  burned  up." 

"You  don't  believe  much  in  the  Bible,  then  ?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  he  replied.  "  It  has  deceived  the 
people  long  enough  already.  If  the  people  would  only 
read  my  books  on  physiology  and  hygiene,  and  learn 
something  of  the  nature  and  laws  of  their  own  physical 
organization,  and  what  will  promote  the  health,  growth 
and  action  of  all  its  parts,  and  let  that  c  old  fable'  alone, 
they  would  be  healthier,  happier  and  better  off  every 
way." 

He  said  this  with  an  air  of  assurance  and  authority 
which  he  evidently  thought  and  desired  would  settle 
the  matter  with  me,  at  least  for  the  present,  as  he  rose 
and  walked  the  room  nervously. 

But  I  had  seen  too   many   men  in  the  West  to  be 
bluifed  off  after  that  style,  and  my  interest  in  him  was  ' 
too  intense. 

"  Well,  my  friend,"  I  said,  after  he  subsided  a  little, 
"  If  you  do  not  believe  the  Bible,  what  do  you  believe  ?" 

"  I  am  a  free-thinker,  sir." 

"  And  what  is  a  free-thinker  ? " 

"  One  who  thinks  freely,  and  as  he  pleases,  upon  all 
subjects,  without  the  shackles  and  'leading  strings'  of 


44  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

the  Bible,  or  any  other  old  book — who  has  the  inde 
pendence  and  manliness  to  think  for  himself." 

"I  have  long  desired  to  see  a  free-thinker/'  said  I, 
rather  coolly. 

"Look  at  me,  then,  and  you  will  see  one,"  he  replied, 
rather  curtly. 

""Will  you  be  kind  enough/7  I  asked,  "to  tell  me 
what  you  think,  'freely/  upon  some  subjects  of  grave 
importance  of  which  the  Bible  treats?" 

"What  subjects  ?" 

"The  origin  of  man,  for  instance.  If  you  reject 
revelation,  how  do  you  account  for  the  origin  of  our 
race  ? " 

"Easy  enough,"  he  replied.  "In  the  same  way  that 
I  account  for  the  origin  of  plants  and  animals — by 
growth  and  development." 

"  You  believe,  then,  in  what  is  called  the  '  develop 
ment  theory  ? '  " 

"I  do,  most  fully  and  freely." 

"  From  what  is  man  a  development  ? "  I  asked. 

"  From  the  lower  animals,  and  immediately  from  the 
animals  whose  organism  is  nearest  like  ours." 

"What  animal,"  I  asked,  "do  you  think  furnishes 
the  resemblance  so  striking  that  leads  you  to  believe 
that  man  is  a  development  from  it,  and  an  improve 
ment  on  it  ?  " 

With  evident  embarrassment,  he  answered,  "  I  sup 
pose  the  ape  or  the  monkey." 

"  Then/"  said  I,  "I  think  I  can  have  you  a  fine  audi 
ence  in  Jefferson  City  next  week,  if  I  can  make  the 
announcement  according  to  your  theory." 

"How  is  that?"  he  inquired. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  45 

"I  will  tell  the  people  that  an  improved  monkey  will 
lecture  to  them." 

The  excitement  of  the  man  was  scarcely  less  than 
the  evident  pleasure  of  the  listeners. 

"  And,  moreover,"  I  continued,  "I  will  readily  excuse 
you  for  not  giving  me  anything  for  the  Bible  cause, 
and  can  no  longer  be  surprised  that  you  desire  to  see 
all  the  Bibles  destroyed." 

"  Why  ?  "  he  asked,  turning  upon  me  sharply. 

" Because,"  said  I,  "I  can  not  expect  a  monkey,  how 
ever  developed  and  improved,  to  appreciate  a  revela 
tion  from  God." 

He  became  furious,  sprang  to  his  feet,  and  with 
gesticulations  as  rapid  and  violent  as  the  volubility  of 
his  tongue,  and  as  threatening  as  the  intensity  of  the 
mingled  chagrin  and  anger  that  burned  in  his  coun 
tenance,  delivered  himself  somewhat  as  follows: 

"  You  are  a  Methodist  preacher,  going  about  trying 
to  make  the  people  believe  that  they  can  get  religion — 
that  God  can  convert  them.  It  is  all  a  deception — a 
delusion.  God  can  do  no  such  thing.  I  was  deceived 
once,  too,  and  was  fool  enough  to  join  the  Methodist 
church  and  believe  that  God  could  convert  me.  I  went 
to  the  mourners'  bench,  where  you  try  to  get  people  to 
go ;  they  sang,  and  prayed  and  shouted  over  me,  and 
beat  me  on  the  back,  and  tried  to  make  me  believe  that 
I  was  converted.  But  it  was  no  such  thing.  God 
could  not  convert  me.  How  could  he  get  into  me  ? 
Where  would  he  come  in  at  ?  At  the  mouth  ?  or  nose  ? 
or  ears  ?  All  the  men  in  the  world  could  not  make  me 
believe  that  I  could  be  converted.  God  'Imighty  could 
not  convert  me." 


46  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

He  closed,  pretty  well  exhausted,  and  yet  with  his 
feelings  somewhat  in  the  ascendant,  and  with  marked 
interest  awaited  my  reply. 

"  I  am  not  at  all  astonished  at  the  fact,"  said  I,  « that 
God  could  not  convert  you." 

"  Why  ?  Do  you  not  teach  the  people  that  G-od  can 
convert  and  save  men  ?  " 

"  Certainly  I  do.  But,  then,  I  read  in  the  Scriptures 
no  provision  whatever  for  the  conversion  and  salvation 
of  monkeys,  however  improved." 

"Without  another  word  he  wheeled  and  "  went  away 
in  a  rage,"  snatching  up  his  sack  of  books  in  his  flight, 
and  muttering  something  that  could  not  be  heard  above 
the  roar  of  laughter  that  followed  him.  I  never  saw 
him  afterward.  From  that  moment  he  went  his  way, 
and  I  mine.  Our  paths  never  crossed  each  other,  or 
at  least  we  never  met.  Our  encounter  lasted  about 
half  an  hour,  and  when  he  disappeared  so  unceremon 
iously  nearly  every  gentleman  present  walked  up  and 
gave  me  a  dollar  for  the  Bible  cause,  as  the  best  way 
of  testifying  their  appreciation  of  the  victory. 

This  aptly  illustrates  the  pernicious  character  of  the 
teachings  then  rife  through  the  State,  and  this  "  im 
proved  monkey"  was  a- fair  specimen  of  the  class  of 
itinerant  lecturers  that  were  then  talking  to  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  the  people  every  week. 

The  rejection  of  the  office  of  chaplain  by  the  State 
Legislature,  and  the  passage  of  the  "Sunday  law/'  and 
other  class  legislation  affecting  the  religious  institu 
tions  of  the  State,  meant  more  than  the  temporary 
freak  of  a  few  irreligious  politicians.  It  was  the  ex 
pression  of  a  wide-spread  and  growing  sentiment 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  47 

amongst  the  people,  and  the  first  bold  demand  of  a  fast- 
maturing  infidelity. 

The  great  Napoleon  said  that  "  there  are  certain 
moral  combinations  always  necessary  to  produce  revo 
lution  }  and  if  they  do  not  exist  it  is  impossible  to 
revolutionize  a  government  or  interrupt  its  peaceful 
administration.  Without  them  a  few  ambitious  lead 
ers,  inspired  by  selfish  motives,  may  struggle  in  vain 
for  political  power." 

If  civil  revolutions  attest  the  wisdom  of  this  remark 
of  the  great  military  chieftain,  much  more  the  moral 
and  religious  phases  which  revolutions  assume  under 
given  conditions. 

The  foreign  element,  with  its  rationalism,  anti-Sabba 
tarianism  and  abused  Romanism ;  the  irreligious  cle 
ment,  with  its  Spiritualism,  Universalism,  Free-lovism 
and  open  and  disguised  infidelity — these  furnish  to  the 
reflecting  "  moral  combinations  "  sufficient  to  produce, 
or  at  least  to  control  and  direct,  the  great  moral 
agencies  that  were  so  efficient  during  the  civil  revolu 
tion  in  burning  churches,  breaking  up  religious  associa 
tions,  hunting  down  and  dragging  ministers  of  the 
gospel  "  to  prison  and  to  death,"  and  adding  to  the 
horrors  of  civil  war,  this,  that  the  comforting  ministra 
tions  of  Christianity  are  proscribed,  or  altogether  pro 
hibited,  under  the  penalty  of  imprisonment  or  death, 
or  both  imprisonment  and  death,  to  the  man  of  God 
whose  enlightened  conscience  teaches  him  to  fear  God 
rather  than  man. 


48  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Characteristics  of  the  Population — All  Nationalities  and  all  Social 
Peculiarities  Fused  into  a  Common  Mass — Missourian  —  First 
Settlers  of  the  State — "Where  From,  and  their  Type  of  Domestic 
and  Social  Life — The  "Kansas-Nebraska  Bill" — Its  Effect  upon 
the  Population  of  Missouri — "Emigration  Aid  Societies" — Ex 
tremes  Brought  Together  in  Missouri — Keflex  Tides  of  Population 
— Rapid  Increase — 'Unique  Social  Formation — Social  Peculiarities 
Fuse — Eeligious  Characteristics  Become  more  Distinct — Religious 
Thought  and  Feeling,  Doctrines  and  Dogmas,  Sharply  Defined 
and  Fearfully  Distinct  in  Missouri— Sects  and  their  Peculiarities — 
Sectarian  Strife  Uncompromising — Why — Religious  Controversy 
— Published  Debates — Their  Effect — Sectarian  Bigotry  and  Intol 
erance — Differences,  Essential  and  Non-essential — History  Repeat 
ing  Itself — Persecution  the  Same  in  Every  Age — Early  Martyrs 
and  the  Missouri  Martyrs — "  The  Altar,  the  "W^ood  and  "the  Lamb 
for  a  Burnt  Offering." 

The  population  of  Missouri  differs  in  some  respects 
from  that  of  any  other  State.  There  is  a  greater  variety 
of  nationalities  blended,  of  blood  mingled,  and  of 
national,  political,  social,  domestic  and  religious  charac 
teristics  crossed  and  intermixed  than  can  be  found  in 
any  other  State. 

Other  States  may  have  more  nationalities  represented 
in  their  population,  and  the  political,  social  and  eccle 
siastical  characteristics  may  be  more  sharply  defined ; 
but  that  fact  only  confirms  the  position  taken — that  in 
Missouri  these  characteristics  lose  their  identity,  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  and  become  fused  in  the  common 
mass.  Nearly  all  the  nationalities  of  Europe,  and  many 
of  Asia,  are  represented  in  Missouri,  but  only  a  few 
years'  residence  is  sufficient  to  either  destroy  or  modify 
their  national  characteristics. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  49 

The  social  and  domestic  peculiarities  of  every  State 
in  the  Union,  with  many  foreign  states,  are  exotics  here; 
while  many  of  them  die  out  altogether  and  are  aban 
doned,  others  compromise  and  intermingle,  until  the 
type  of  social  and  domestic  life  is  somewhat  of  a  hybrid, 
and  is  peculiarly  Missourian. 

The  bulk  of  the  old  population  of  the  State  was  from 
Kentucky,  Virginia,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  Ten 
nessee  and  Ohio,  with  a  respectable  number  from 
Indiana,  Illinois  and  New  York.  Up  to  1855  and  '56 
the  types  of  social  life  existing  in  these  several  States 
were  scarcely  disturbed  in  Missouri.  After  the  passage 
by  Congress  of  the  somewhat  notorious  "  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,"  in  1854,  and  the  organization  of  these 
Territories,  the  population  of  Missouri  increased  rapidly 
and  became  of  a  more  general  character. 

" Emigration  aid  societies"  in  New  England  and  the 
Eastern  States  threw  into  these  newly-formed  Terri 
tories  thousands  of  families  who  represented  in  their 
social  and  religious  lives  the  extreme  of  New  England 
ideas  and  New  England  faith. 

Emigration  from  the  Southern  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
'States,  whether  by  aid  societies  or  otherwise,  rushed  to 
these  Territories,  bringing  the  extremest  types  of 
Southern  life.  The  middle  and  Mississippi  Valley 
States  furnished  their  share,  until  the  swelling  popula 
tion  of  Kansas  presented  a  scene  of  contrasts  and  con 
flicts  turbulent  and  exciting  beyond  anything  before 
known  in  the  history  of  territorial  settlement. 

It  is  true  that  it  was  the  struggle  of  political  parties 
for  dominion,  each  seeking  to  incorporate  its  peculiar 
class  of  ideas  and  cast  of  policy  into  the  corporate 


50  MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI. 

structure  of  the  future  State  by  controlling  the  Terri 
torial  election;  yet  the  effect  upon  the  social  and  do 
mestic  peculiarities  of  Missouri,  as  well  as  the  peculiar 
institutions  of  the  State,  was  marked  and  decided. 

Missouri  caught  the  reflex  tide  of  population,  and  her 
fertile  soil,  mineral  wealth  and  commercial  advantages 
not  only  retained  this  reflex  population,  but  supplied 
an  effective  appeal  to  thousands  more  from  all  parts  of 
the  country — North,  East  and  South — until  for  a  few 
years  her  population  increased  at  the  rate  of  nearly  one 
hundred  thousand  per  annum.  And  yet,  in  her  extended 
area  of  territor}^,  this  immense  influx  was  scarcely 
perceptible.  Along  her  rivers  and  railroad  lines  her 
population  thickened,  and  her  great  commercial  centres 
felt  the  life  and  power  of  multiplied  agencies  and  re 
sources. 

Either  the  rapid  growth  of  cities,  the  stir  and  excite 
ment  of  trade,  the  strife  for  fortune  arid  fame,  the 
magical  charm  of  Western  life,  or  something  else  pecu 
liar  to  the  climate,  the  country  or  the  people,  all  of  these 
distinct  and  opposing  types  of  social  life  began  soon  to 
lose  their  "type  force  "  and  blend  into  a  conglomerate 
social  mass,  with  fewer  Northern,  Eastern  and  Southern 
peculiarities  than  Western — a  rather  unique  social  for 
mation,  which  the  modern  socialogists  have  not  yet 
classified. 

Few  Southern  men  and  Southern  families  long  re 
tained  their  purely  Southern  style  of  life,  and  few 
Eastern  or  Northern  men  and  families  long  retained  the 
social  and  domestic  habits  that  were  peculiar  to  the 
latitude  from  which  they  hailed.  It  is  easy  to  see  how 
the  social  life  that  derives  its  characteristics  from  such 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  51 

different  and  distant  systems  would  be  peculiar  in  itself 
and  to  itself. 

People  lose  their  social  characteristics  much  sooner 
and  more  easily  than  they  do  their  religious  peculiari 
ties.  The  former  are  based  on  education,  taste,  associa 
tion  and  habit,  the  latter  on  principles  vital  and  divine. 
As  every  national  and  social  characteristic  known  to 
American  society  has  become  mixed  and  blended  in 
Missouri,  so  every  shade  of  religious  thought  and  feeling, 
every  form  of  religious  doctrine  and  dogma,  together 
with  every  type  of  ecclesiasticism  known  to  modern 
American  civilization,  exists  in  the  hearts  and  homes 
of  "Missouri — at  least  to  some  extent.  Nearly  every 
shade  of  religious  belief  has  a  representative  in  Mis 
souri,  and  stands  cut  more  or  less  distinct  upon  the 
moral  phases  of  society. 

These  do  not  blend.  No  moral  alchemist  can  fuse 
the  distinct  religious  peculiarities  of  a  people.  Men 
may  relinquish  their  social  and  domestic  characteristics 
because  they  are  matters  of  taste  or  convenience ;  but 
to  give  up  their  distinctive  religious  characteristics  is 
considered  a  sacrifice  of  principle  and  conscience. 

Men  do  not  struggle  long  to  maintain  and  propagate 
that  which  was  peculiar  to  their  former  social  life,  but 
will  contend  forever  for  that  which  is  peculiarly  dis 
tinctive  in  their  religious  belief.  That  which  men  hold 
lightly  and  esteem  of  little  value  to  them  elsewhere 
assumes  an  importance  and  a  value  in  the  West,  and 
will  not  be  surrendered  tamely.  Keligious  ideas  which 
in  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  existed  in  the  mind 
crudely  or  loosely,  exerting  no  influence  upon  the  life, 
would  in  Missouri  take  a  permanent  shape,  seek  affini- 


52  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

ties,  and  ultimately  grow  into  churches  struggling  for  a 
place  in  the  great  moral  agencies  of  the  State.  Men 
whose  religious  habits  were  scarcely  formed,  and  whose 
lives  had  not  assumed  any  positive  ecclesiastical  type 
in  the  .older  States,  on  coming  to  Missouri  became  posi 
tive,  decided,  unequivocal,  sectarian  partisans,  and 
often  uncharitable  bigots.  Men  who  Avould  contend 
fairly  for  their  distinctive  tenets  elsewhere  contend 
fiercely  here,  and  very  few  live  long  in  this  State  with 
out  espousing,  to  some  extent,  the  cause  of  some 
religious  sect. 

There  are  causes  for  this  state  of  things.  Society  is, 
to  a  great  extent,  in  a  formative  state.  In  very  few 
places,  if  any,  has  society  settled  down  into  grooves, 
and  channels,  and  circles,  and  social  and  church  castes, 
as  in  the  older  States ;  and  then  society  exists  in  a  great 
variety  of  unassimilated  elements,  Northern,  Southern, 
Eastern,  Western;  English,  French,  C4erman,  Scotch, 
Irish,  with  a  hundred  different  shades  of  social  and 
domestic  life,  which  are  too  distinct  to  become  homo 
geneous,  and  which  seek  in  church  creeds  and  church 
associations  their  social  as  well  as  religious  affinities. 

The  result  is  that,  perhaps,  no  other  State  can  furnish 
as  great  a  variety  of  distinct  sects,  or  denominations  of 
Christians,  with  the  religious  population  so  liberally  dis 
tributed  amongst  them.  There  may  be  more  sects  in 
States  that  have  a  much  larger  population,  but  in  pro 
portion  to  the  population,  no  State  has  a  greater  variety 
of  churches  which  accommodate  such  a  diversity  of 
belief,  each  of  which  has  so  large  a  hold  upon  the 
public  mind. 

It  would,  indeed,  be  anomalous  if  all  of  these  sects 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  53 

could  exist  together  in  peace.  Missouri  can  not  claim 
such  exceptional  distinction.  In,  perhaps,  no  State  or 
country  has  denominational  contention  and  strife  been 
more  general  and  uncompromising. 

Not  willing  to  accept  th<3  standards  of  doctrine  pub 
lished  and  recognized  by  each  church,  nor  to  abide  by 
the  verdict  of  learned  debates  upon  all  questions  of 
difference,  ministers  and  members,  with  astonishing 
freedom  and  with  defiant  presumption,  enter  the  arena 
of  controversy,  public  and  private,  with  a  zeal  and  a 
spirit  equally  hurtful  to  Christian  charity  and  the  gen 
eral  cause  of  true  piety.  Nothing  can  awaken  a  com* 
miinity  more  generally  and  excite  the  people  more 
intensely  than  a  public  debate,  formally  arranged  and 
pitched  by  two  noted  champions.  The  notoriety 
gained  by  the  antagonists  outlasts,  if  it  does  not  out 
reach,  the  settlement  of  disputed  questions.  And, 
then,  each  man  or  woman,  however  old  or  young,  must 
become  an  adept  in  religious  controversy,  and  convert 
every  road  side,  street  corner,  shop,  office,  counting 
room,  kitchen  and  parlor  into  a  place  for  petty,  spite 
ful  theological  disputation.  Instead  of  edifying  one 
another  in  love,  and  deepening  the  work  of  grace  in 
the  heart  by  appropriate  religious  conversations,  they 
embitter  the  sectarian  spirit,  destroy  Christian  charity, 
alienate  personal  friendship,  "and  dote  about  questions 
and  strifes  of  words,  whereof  cometh  envy,  strife,  rail 
ings,  evil  surmisings,  perverse  disputing  of  men  of 
corrupt  minds,  and  destitute  of  the  truth. " 

With  many,  sectarian  jealousy  is  equaled  only  by  sec 
tarian  bigotry,  and  the  great  work  of  soul-saving  is 
made  only  tributary  to  denominational  success.  Indeed, 


54  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

many  go  so  far  as  to  deny  the  virtue  of  saving  grace  to 
all  but  themselves,  and  vainly  imagine  that  the  saving 
virtues  of  the  atonement  are  transmitted  to  the  hearts 
of  men  only  through  their  church  ministrations  and 
distinctive  ordinances. 

Nothing  excites  sectarian  jealousy  more  thoroughly 
than  great  religious  awakenings  and  revivals  in  any 
given  church.  It  is  natural  that  the  minister  of  the 
gospel  who,  as  a  human  instrument,  is  very  successful 
in  winning  souls  to  Christ  should  be  ft  highly  esteemed 
in  love  for  his  work's  sake,"  and  yet  nothing  exposes 
him  more  to  the  unjust  criticisms  and  unchristian  de 
tractions  of  his  less  successful  brethren  in  the  ministry. 
Let  a  revivalist  be  successful  in  stirring  the  religious 
life  of  a  whole  community  and  in  producing  a  general 
religious  awakening,  and  the  ministers  and  members  of 

O     ~  O  * 

other  churches,  instead  of  joining  heartily  with  him  in 
the  great  work  and  laboring  together  for  the  general 
good,  will  watch  with  jealous  interest  the  progress 
of  the  work,  discuss  with  uncharitable  criticism  its 
character,  and  seize  the  first  opportunity  to  begin 
a  meeting  of  their  own,  that  they  may  make  the 
religious  awakening  of  the  community  inure  to  their 
denominational  advantage.  Should  the  revival  occur  in 
a  small  town  where  the  whole  population  Christianized 
could  not  more  than  adequately  support  one  healthy 
church  organization,  with  one  pastor,  instead  of  as 
similating  all  the  religious  elements,  it  would  act  like 
a  moral  solvent,  disparting  and  isolating  each  shade  of 
religious  belief  and  thought.  "  Where  two  or  three 
are  gathered  together"  of  the  same  belief  they  will 
organize,  send  for  a  pastor  and  set  up  for  themselves. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  55 

Thus  the  little  community  becomes  divided  into  little 
sectarian  factions,  each  to  drag  out  a  half-conscious, 
miserable,  contentious  existence,  instead  of  uniting  in 
one  large,  healthy,  self-sustaining  congregation,  with 
all- the  benefits  and  advantages  of  a  first-class  minister 
well  supported,  a  good  church  and  Sabbath  school, 
with  all  the  regular  ministrations  of  the  gospel. 

These  things  can  not  be  affirmed  of  all  ministers  of  the 
gospel,  nor  of  all  churches  and  communities  in  Missouri; 
but  the  facts  are  too  common,  too  prominent  and  de 
plorable  to  be  overlooked  in  any  legitimate  search  for 
the  animus  of  sectarianism  in  Missouri. 

Where  the  differences  between  denominations  are 
essential  they  are  agreed  upon  their  differences  and  live 
in  peace,  each  pursuing  a  distinct  line  of  operations  in 
its  own  way  unmolested,  and  their  lines  rarely,  if  ever, 
cross  each  other.  On  the  other  hand,  where  the  differ 
ence  is  non-essential,  they  will  not  agree  to  disagree, 
and  wrangling  and  contention,  disputings  and  debates, 
mark  the  conflict.  Where  the  difference  lies  in  funda 
mental  doctrines,  debates  are  rare  and  formal.  If  the 
difference  lies  in  ecclesiastical  polity,  or  in  forms  of 
worship,  or  in  sacraments  or  modes  of  ordinances,  the 
discussions  are  interminable  and  the  petty  disputations 
endless.  The  nearer  denominations  approach  each 
other  in  all  that  is  essential  in  doctrine,  worship  and 
works  of  righteousness,  the  deeper  seated  and  more  bit 
ter  the  jealousy  and  strife  between  them.  Non-fraterni 
zation  and  non-intercourse  are  maintained  with  much 
punctiliousness  between  those  Churches  which  are  one 
in  origin,  one  in  doctrine,  and  one  in  all  of  their  essen 
tial  characteristics,  but  which  have  separated  from  each 


5£  MAKTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

other  upon  questions  of  ecclesiastical  polity,  or  for  some 
other  like  cause. 

Judging  from  the  character  of  the  strife  between 
them,  their  methods  of  ecclesiastical  warfare,  and  the 
downright  animosity  that  enters  into  and  characterizes 
these  strifes,  one  would  readily  suppose  that,  according 
to  their  own  interpretation,  their  peculiar  commission 
is  to  overcome,  root  out,  exterminate  and  supplant  the 
church  that  bears  the  same  "  image  and  superscription*" 
Particularly  is  this  true  when  the  essential  grounds  of 
difference  are  political. 

For  confirmation  of  this  position  it  is  only  necessary 
to  refer  to  the  two  Methodist,  the  two  Presbyterian,  and 
recently  the  two  Baptist  Churches  of  this  State,  which 
are  divided,  not  upon  doctrines  or  ordinances,  but  upon 
questions  of  ecclesiastical  polity — whether  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  as  such,  have  the  right  to  legislate  upon  or  inter 
meddle  with  questions  that  belong  to  the  State,  and 
must  be  controlled  by  the  State. 

This  allusion  is  sufficient  for  the  present  purpose.  It 
only  remains  to  be  noted  here  how  readily  ecclesiastical 
partisans  take  advantage  of  everything  in  political  and 
civil  strife  that  will  confer  upon  them  power  and  posi 
tion.  How  readily  they  identify  themselves  with  domi 
nant  parties,  if  by  so  doing  they  can  damage  their  ecclesi 
astical  opponents  and  gain  position  and  power  for  them 
selves  !  How  heartily  they  endorse  the  policy  of  the 
party  in  power,  if  by  it  their  own  disability  is  exchanged 
for  temporary  enfranchisement,  and  their  own  minority 
is  invested  with  temporary  power  to  oppress  and  perse 
cute  the  hated  majority! 

History  repeats   itself;  and  the  genius  of  religious 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  57 

persecution  and  proscription  has  discovered  very  few 
new  expedients  arid  adopted  very  few  new  instruments 
since  the  days  of  the  Master.  The  manger  of  Bethlehem 
cradled  the  Incarnate  Innocence,  and  Pilate's  judgment 
hall  gave  birth  to  the  diabolical  genius  of  persecution, 
which  was  equal  to  the  task,  in  that  it  did  there  and 
then  invent  and  employ  the  only  expedient  that  could 
at  once  be  successful  in  the  crucifixion  of  Incarnate  In 
nocence,  and  in  transmitting  itself  to  every  country  and 
age  with  undiminished  efficiency  to  pursue  to  prison 
and  to  death  the  followers  of  its  first  and  greatest  Victim 
as  long  as  time  should  last.  The  cry  of  disloyalty  and 
treason*  made  by  ecclesiastics  is  now,  as  it  always  has 
been,  the  strongest  appeal  to  the  guardians  and  defend 
ers  of  the  State ;  and  as  that  was  successful  before 
Pilate,  and  forced  him  to  sign  the  death  warrant  of  the 
Master,  so  it  has  been  successful  in  every  tribunal  of 
earthly  power,  and  procured  the  death  warrant  of  all 
the  martyrs  in  every  country  and  age,  and  under  every 
form  of  government  and  every  phase  of  ecclesiastlcism 
from  that  day  to  this.  "  We  found  this  fellow  pervert 
ing  the  nation,  forbidding  to  give  tribute  to  Ca3sar, 
saying  that  he  himself  is  Christ — a  king."  "If  thou  le.t 
this  man  go  thou  art  not  Caesar's  friend  ;  whosoever 
maketh  himself  a  king  speaketh  against  Caesar."  Such 
declarations  made  by  the  High  Priests  of  the  Church 
could,  and  did,  influence  the  Roman  Procurator  against 
the  convictions  of  his  better  judgment,  against  reason, 
against  all  the  facts,  against  right  and  against  innocence. 
What  were  all  these  to  the  life-blood  of  their  victim  ? 

In  some  form  or  other  these  charges  have  been  re 
peated  in  every  systematic  persecution  of  ministers  of 
the  gospel  and  martyrs  for  the  truth,  from  Stephen, 


58  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

Antipas,  Polycarp  and  Barnabas  to  the  Bartholomew 
Massacre  in  Paris,  and  from  the  revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  and  the  Papal  Inquisition  to  the  last  great 
tragedy  in  the  drama,  occurring  during  and  since  the 
late  civil  war  in  America,  in  free  Missouri  and  under  the 
aegis  of  institutions  that  boast  of  religious  liberty,  and 
the  sanction  of  men  who  profess  to  represent  the  ad 
vanced  Christian  civilization  of  the  age. 

But,  then,  "the  disciple  is  not  above  his  Master,  nor 
the  servant  above  his  Lord."  "Remember  the  word 
that  I  said  unto  you,  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  Lord. 
If  they  have  persecuted  me  they  will  persecute  you." 

They  beheaded  John,  crucified  Christ,  stoned  Stephen, 
murdered  Paul,  "and  others  had  trial  of  cruel  mockirigs 
and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and  imprison 
ment;  they  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn  asunder,  were 
slain  with  the  sword ;  they  wandered  about  in  sheep 
skins  and  goat-skins,  being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented; 
of  whom  the  world  was  not  worthy." 

Every  age  and  country  have  reproduced  in  some  form 
the  altar  and  the  victim,  the  persecutor  and  the  perse 
cuted,  the  Caiaphas  and  the  Christ,  without  material 
alteration  in  the  charge  or  the  trial.  Missouri  has 
provided  the  altar,  the  wood,  the  fire  and  the  sacrifice 
for  the  offering  demanded  by  this  age  and  country  in  the 
interest  of  the  Church.  Woods,  Sexton,  Glanville, 
Wollard,  Robinson,  Wood,  Headlee  and  others  supplied 
the  sacrifice. 

While  this  chapter  prepares  the  way,  in  an  impor 
tant  sense,  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  subject 
in  hand,  it  will  also  embody  a  standing  declaration  and 
testimony  against  the  peculiar  spirit  and  character  of 
sectarian  strife  in  Missouri. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  59 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Division  of  the  Church  in  1844— Slavery  only  the  Occasion — Action 
of  the  General  Conference  in  1836— Slavery  in  the  Church  in  1796 
and  in  1836— No  Change  of  its  Moral  Aspects  in  1844— Facts  Per 
verted — Constitutional  Powers  of  the  Church — Bishop  Andrew,  a 
Scapegoat — Protest  of  the  Southern  Conferences — Resolution  and 
Plan  of  Separation— Dn.  Elliott  and  Schism— The  Vote— The 
Question  in  the  South — Louisville  Convention  in  1845 — Division. 
— The  Bishops  of  the  M.  E.  Church  Accept  the  Division  the 
following  July — Failure  to  Change  the  Sixth  Restrictive  Rule — 
General  Conference  of  1848  Pronounce  the  Whole  Proceedings- 
Null  and  Void — Dr.  Lovick  Pierce  Rejected  —  Fraternization 
Denied — Responsibility  of  Non-Fraternization — Northern  Church 
Refuse  to  Make  any  Division  of  Property — Appeal  to  the  Civil 
Courts — Decision  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York — Justice  McLean — United  States 
Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  Ohio — Judge  Lcavitt's 
Decision — Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States — Points  Decided — 
The  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  Full. 

It  is  due  to  the  uninformed  that  a  true  statement  bo 
made  here  of  the  causes,  conditions,  plan  and  immedi 
ate  results  of  the  great  division,  in  1844,  of  the  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States.  This  is 
made  the  more  necessary  by  the  misrepresentation  of 
the  facts  made  by  the  press  and  pulpit  of  the  Northern 
wing  of  the  Church,  and  the  political  and  other  uses 
a  perversion  of  the  facts  was  made  to  subserve  in 
Missouri. 

1.  Slavery  was  not,  in  any  proper  sense,  the  cause  of 
division,  but  was  made,  incidentally,  the  occasion  only. 
American  slavery  had  existed  in  the  Church  for  sixty 
years  in  the  same  form,  and  under  the  same  civil  and 
religious  sanctions  that  authorized  and  covered  it  in 


60  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

1844.  If  it  was  the  "sum  of  all  evils  "  in  1844,  it  was 
the  same  in  1796;  and  the  moral  character  of  the  insti 
tution  was  not  changed  in  1836,  when  the  General 
Conference  in  Cincinnati,  by  a  vote  of  120  to  14,  adopted 
the  following  preamble  and  resolutions: 

"  WHEREAS,  Great  excitement  has  prevailed  in  this 
^country  on  the  subject  of  modern  abolitionism,  which 
is  reported  to  have  been  increased  in  this  city  recently 
by  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of  two  members  of  the 
General  Conference,  in  lecturing  upon  and  in  favor  of 
'that  agitating  subject;  and,  whereas,  such  a  course  on 
the  part  of  any  of  its  members  is  calculated  to  bring 
upon  this  body  the  suspicions  and  distrust  of  the  com 
munity,  and  to  misrepresent  its  sentiments  in  regard  to 
the  points  at  issue ;  and,  whereas,  in  this  aspect  of  the 
case,  a  due  regard  for  its  own  character,  as  well  as  a 
just  concern  for  the  interests  of  the  Church  confided  to 
its  care,  demand  a  full,  decided  and  unequivocal  expres 
sion  of  the  ideas  of  the  General  Conference  in  the 
premises;  therefore, 

"Resolved,  By  the  delegates  of  the  Annual  Confer 
ences  in  General  Conference  assembled,  that  they  dis 
approve,  in  the  most  unqualified  sense,  the  conduct  of 
two  members  of  the  General  Conference,  who  are  re 
ported  to  have  lectured  in  this  city  recently  upon  and 
in  favor  of  modern  abolitionism. 

"Resolved,  That  they  are  decidedly  opposed  to 
modern  abolitionism,  and  wholly  disdain  any  right, 
wish  or  intention  to  interfere  in  the  civil  and  political 
relation  between  master  and  slave  as  it  exists  in  the 
slaveholding  States  of  this  Union." — Bangs'  History  of 
•  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  vol.  4,  pp.  245,  246. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  61 

This  is  rather  strong  language,  but  not  more  so  than 
the  pastoral  address  issued  by  the  same  General  Con 
ference.  In  that  address  the  following  language  is 
used  :  "It  can  not  be  unknown  to  you  that  the  question 
of  slavery  in  these  United  States,  by  the  constitutional 
compact  which  binds  us  together  as  a  nation,  is  left  to 
be  regulated  by  the  several  State  legislatures  them 
selves,  and  thereby  is  put  beyond  the  control  of  the 
general  government  as  well  as  that  of  all  ecclesiastical 
bodies,  it  being  manifest  that  in  the  slaveholding  States 
themselves  the  entire  responsibility  of  its  existence  or 
non-existence  rests  with  those  State  legislatures;  and 
such  is  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  reference  to  this  question 
that  whatever  else  might  tend  to  meliorate  the  condi 
tion  of  the  slave,  it  is  evident  to  us,  from  what  we  have 
witnessed  of  abolition  movements,  that  these  are  the 
least  likely  to  do  him  good."  Reasons  are  given  amply 
sufficient  to  prove  that  abolition  speeches  and  publica 
tions  all  "tend  injuriously  to  affect  his  temporal  and 
spiritual  condition,  by  hedging  up  the  way  of  the  mis 
sionary  who  is  sent  to  preach  to  him  Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,  and  thereby  abridging  his  civil  and  reli 
gious  privileges." 

"These  facts,"  the  address  continues,  "which  are 
only  mentioned  here  as  reasons  for  the  friendly  admoni 
tion  which  we  wish  to  give  you,  constrain  us,  as  your 
pastors,  who  are  called  to  watch  over  your  souls,  as 
they  who  must  give  an  account,  to  exhort  you  to 
abstain  from  all  abolition  movements  and  associations, 
and  to  refrain  from  patronizing  any  of  their  publica 
tions,  and  especially  from  those  of  that  inflammatory 
character  which  denounce  in  unmeasured  terms  those 


62  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

of  the  brethren  who  take  the  liberty  to  dissent  from 
them."  *  *  *  *  "From  every  view  of  the  subject 
which  we  have  been  able  to  take,  and  from  the  most 
calm  and  dispassionate  survey  of  the  whole  ground,  we 
have  come  to  the  solemn  conviction  that  the  only  safe, 
scriptural  and  prudent  way  for  us,  both  as  ministers  and 
people,  to  take,  is  wholly  to  refrain  from  this  agitating 
subject  which  is  now  convulsing  the  country,  and  con 
sequently  the  Church,  from  end  to  end,  by  calling  forth 
inflammatory  speeches,  papers  and  pamphlets.  While 
we  cheerfully  accord  to  such  all  the  sincerity  they  ask 
for  their  belief  and  motives,  we  can  not  but  disapprove 
of  their  measures  as  alike  destructive  to  the  peace  of 
the  Church  and  the  happiness  of  the  slave." — Bangs,1 
History  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  vol.  4,  pp.  258,  260. 

It  is  patent  to  every  candid  observer  that  the  Church 
in  1836  did  not  consider  the  subject  of  slavery  as  the 
"  sum  of  all  evils,"  and  therefore  to  be  extirpated  at 
whatever  cost  to  Church  and  State,  but  rather  that  the 
danger  to  the  peace  of  the  Church  and  country  was  not 
in  slavery  itself,  but  in  the  "abolition  movements," 
"speeches  and  papers"  that  were  "convulsing  the 
country  and  Church  from  end  to  end/'  and  "that  the 
only  safe,  scriptural  and  prudent  way  for  both  ministers 
and  people  was  wholly  to  refrain  from  this  agitating 
subject."  Slavery  was,  according  to  this  address,  " be 
yond  the  control  of  all  ecclesiastical  bodies"  and  it  would 
have  been  fortunate  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  both 
the  Church  and  the  country  had  it  remained  beyond 
their  control,  and  had  the  teachings  and  deliverances 
of  all  ecclesiastical  bodies  upon  this  subject  remained 
just  as  this  General  Conference  expressed  it  in  1836. 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  63 

Slavery  remained  unchanged;  and  if  it  was  "safe, 
scriptural  and  prudent"  fur  the  Church  in  '36  to  let 
it  alone,  and  leave  it  under  the  "control  of  the  State 
legislatures/'  where  "the  constitutional  compact  which 
binds  us  together  as  a  nation  placed  it,"  why  was  it 
not  "safe,  scriptural  and  prudent"  to  do  the  same  in 
'44  ?  Did  slavery,  as  a  domestic,  moral  or  civil  institu 
tion  present  any  new  aspects  in  1844  ?  What  civil  or 
moral  questions  were  applicable  to  slavery  in  1844  that 
did  not  equally  apply  in  1836  or  1796  ?  Had  slavery 
just  been  admitted  into  the  Church  for  the  first  time, 
then  those  who  contend  that  it  was  the  cause  of  division 
would  have  some  show  of  reason.  If  slavery  was  tho 
"sum  of  all  villainy  "  in  1844  it  was  in  1793,  unless  time 
can  change  the  character  of  "  villainy,"  for  it  did  not 
change  the  character  of  slavery.  If  a  slaveholder  was 
"  a  thief,  a  robber,  a  murderer  and  a  sinner  above  all 
others"  in  1844,  he  was  the  same  in  1836.  Nathan 
Bangs,  George  Peck,  Charles  Elliott,  Orange  Scott,  and 
many  others  were  members  of  the  General  Conference 
of  1836,  but  they  did  not  discover  such  mighty  man- 
defrauding,  God-defying  wrongs  in  slavery  and  slave 
holders  then.  Their  optics  were  different  when,  in  1844, 
the  effort  to  make  the  institution  of  slavery  a  proper 
subject  for  ecclesiastical  legislation,  by  deposing  Bishop 
James  O.  Andrew  from  the  Episcopal  office  because  his 
wife  had  inherited  slaves,  revealed  the  dangerous 
advances  the  Church  had  made  toward  the  control  of 
civil  questions. 

In  this  case  "  certain  constructions  of  the  constitu 
tional  powers  and  prerogatives  of  the  General  Confer 
ence  were  assumed  and  acted  on,  which  were  oppres- 


64  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

eive  and  destructive  of  the  rights  of  the  numerical 
minority  represented  in  that  highest  judicatory  of  the 
Church. "  It  was  upon  the  "construction  of  the  con 
stitutional  powers  of  the  church"  that  they  differed, 
and  in  the  discussions  and  decisions  that  followed  "  cer 
tain  principles  were  developed  in  relation  to  the  poli 
tical  aspects  of  slavery,  involving  the  right  of  ecclesi 
astical  bodies  to  handle  and  determine  matters  lying 
wholly  outside  of  their  proper  jurisdiction." 

~No  candid  man  who  will  study  the  philosophy  of  that 
memorable  Conference  in  the  light  of  the  plain  facts 
can  believe  that  slavery  was  more  than  the  occasion  for 
the  separation. 

When  men  willfully  pervert  the  facts  of  history,  or 
misrepresent  the  connection  and  bearing  of  these  facts, 
they  must  have  a  motive,  and  candid  men  are  justified 
in  suspecting  an  end  that  can  not  be  reached  by 
straightforward,  honorable  means. 

Northern  Methodist  preachers  had  become  fanatical 
on  the  subject  of  the  abolition  of  slavery — had  recently 
discovered  great  moral  wrong  in  the  "peculiar  institu 
tion,"  and  commenced  a  war  upon  everything  that 
favored  the  existing  relations  of  master  and  slave.  All 
at  once  it  was  discovered  that  all  the  resolutions  and 
pastoral  address  of  1836  were  in  sympathy  with  the 
"sum  of  all  villainies,"  and  for  that  reason  should  be 
disregarded.  It  was  discovered  that  ministers  of  the 
gospel  were  slaveholders — which  had  been  the  case  from 
the  beginning — and  the  most  noted  instance  then  exist 
ing  was  James  O.  Andrew,  a  man  of  unblemished 
character,  unswerving  integrity  and  singular  purity 
of  heart  and  life.  Why  not  take  him  for  a  scape- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  65 

goat  ?  They  needed  one,  for  many  of  them  had  been 
connected  with  the  same  institution  in  one  way  or 
another.  But  how  could  they  reach  his  case  ?  Did  the 
law  of  the  Church  cover  the  case  ?  Did  the  constitu 
tion  of  the  Church  confer  upon  the  General  Conference 
the  power  to  depose  a  Bishop  because  his  wife  had  in 
herited  a  slave,  and  the  laws  of  the  State  would  not 
admit  of  emancipation  ?  Could  not  a  majority  of  the 
General  Conference  so  interpret  and  construe  the  hvw 
that  the  case  could  be  reached,  and  the  "  abolition 
movement"  that  had  been  unequivocally  condemned 
eight  years  before  be  just  as  unequivocally  indorsed 
now  and  greatly  advanced  by  the  great  Methodist 
Church  in  the  United  States  ?  And  what  if  this 
assumption  of  constitutional  power  should  be  rejected? 
Aye,  there  was  the  rub.  This  was  the  cause.  Admit  the 
authority  of  the  General  Conference  to  depose  a  man 
from  office  for  incidental  or  even  positive  complicity 
with  slavery,  and  with  it  the  right  is  established  to 
depose  a  man  from  the  ministry  for  complicity  with 
democracy,  republicanism,  or  any  thing  else  purely 
political.  The  same  authority  extends  to  the  ballot- 
box  and  all  the  distinctive  privileges  of  citizenship. 

There  were  other  questions  incidentally  brought  out 
at  the  Conference  of  1844  which  tested  the  animus  of 
the  delegates  from  the  North,  and  disclosed  the  con 
struction  placed  by  their  leaders  upon  the  constitutional 
prerogatives  of  the  college  of  Bishops. 

Any  one  at  all  acquainted  with  ecclesiastical  govern 
ment  can  readily  see  how  these  questions  could  divide 
the  Church  whether  slavery  had  an  existence  or  not. 


66  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

The  same  questions  have  produced  division  in  ecclesi 
astical  bodies  since  slavery  was  abolished. 

It  was  not  the  three  cents  a  pound  upon  tea  that 
caused  the  American  revolution  of  1776,  but  the  right 
to  tax  tea  to  that  amount  involved  the  right  to  make 
every  man  in  the  British  colonies  a  slave;  and  the  right 
to  depose  Bishop  Andrew  implied  the  right  to  depose 
every  man  from  the  ministry  who  differed  from,  the 
numerical  majority  upon  any  political  question  what 
ever. 

To  all  sober,  unbiased,  right-thinking,  candid  men 
this  position  will  bo  undeniable — unanswerable.  To 
others  it  will  be  like  "  casting  pearls  before  swine." 

2.  The  plan  of  division  provided  a  remedy  for  the 
cause  of  division.  The  one  stands  in  the  lio-ht  of  the 

O 

other.  When  the  action  in  the  case  of  Bishop  Andrew 
was  taken  in  the  General  Conference  of  1844  the  dele 
gates  from  thirteen  Annual  Conferences,  making  fifty- 
one  in  all,  drew  up  a  declaration  in  which  they  set 
forth  the  fact  that  in  the  slaveholding  States  the  objects 
and  purposes  of  the  ministry  would  be  defeated  by  it. 
Upon  this  protest  the  General  Conference  raised  a 
committee  of  nine,  six  from  the  Northern  Conferences 
and  three  from  the  Southern  Conferences,  to  whom  the 
declaration  was  referred.  After  deliberation  they  sub 
mitted  what  is  known  in  history  and  in  law  as  the 
"  Plan  of  Separation." 
It  begins  thus  : 

"  WHEREAS,  A  declaration  has  been  presented  to  this 
Conference,  with  the  signatures  of  fifty-one  delegates 
of  the  body  from  thirteen  Annual  Conferences  in  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  67 

elaveholding  States,  representing  that,  for  various  rea 
sons  enumerated,  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the  Chris 
tian  ministry  and  church  organizations  can  not  be  suc 
cessfully  accomplished  by  them  under  the  jurisdiction 
of.  the  General  Conference  as  now  constituted ;  and, 

"WHEREAS,  In  the  event  of  a  separation,  a  contin 
gency  to  which  the  declaration  asks  attention  as  not 
improbable,  we  esteem  it  the  duty  of  this  General  Con 
ference  to  meet  the  contingency  with. Christian  kind 
ness  and  the  strictest  equity;  therefore, 

"Resolved  1,  Provided  that  should  the  Annual  Con 
ferences  in  the  slaveholding  States  find  it  necessary  to 
unite  in  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connection,  all  the 
societies,  stations  and  Conferences  bordering  on  the 
line  of  division,  adhering  by  vote  of  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  society,  station  or  Conference  to  either 
the  Church  in  the  South  or  the  M.  E.  Church,  shall 
remain  under  the  unmolested  pastoral  care  of  the 
church  to  which  they  do  adhere." 

The  rule  was  not  to  apply  to  interior  charges,  which 
shall,  in  all  cases,  bo  left  to  the  care  of  that  church 
within  whose  territory  they  are  situated. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  Plan  of  Separation  was 
thus  agreed  upon  by  the  General  Conference :  "  Should 
the  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slaveholding  States  find 
it  necessary  to  unite  in  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connec 
tion.  "  They  were  to  be  the  sole  judges  of  the  necessity 
of  such  "distinct  ecclesiastical  connection."  The  "plan" 
also  provided  for  "ministers  of  every  grade  and  ofiice  " 
adhering  either  North  or  South,  "without  blame,"  and 
for  a  change  of  the  sixth  restrictive  rule  by  a  consti 
tutional  vote  of  all  the  Annual  Conferences,  so  that  in 


68  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

the  event  of  separation  an  equitable  pro  nit  a  division 
of  the  Book  Concerns  at  New  York  and  Cincinnati,  and 
the  Chartered  Fund  at  Philadelphia;  could  be  made.  It 
provided,  also,  for  the  division  of  the  property  by  a  joint 
commission,  in  which  N.  Bangs,  S.  Peck  and  J.  B. 
Einly  were  to  represent  the  Church  North ;  and  the 
ninth  resolution  was  as  follows  : 

"Resolved  9,  That  all  the  property  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  meeting-houses,  parsonages,  col 
leges,  schools,  conference  funds,  cemeteries,  and  of 
every  kind  within  the  limits  of  the  Southern  organiza 
tion,  shall  be  forever  free  from  any  claim  set  up  on  the 
part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  so  far  as  this 
resolution  can  be  of  force  in  the  premises." 

It  is  pertinent  to  the  case  to  state  here  that  on  the 
day  the  "  committee  of  nine  "  was  raised,  and  before  it 
was  formed  or  announced,  the  following  resolution  was 
passed,  without  debate : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  committee  appointed  to  take  into 
consideration  the  communication  of  the  delegates  from 
the  Southern  Conferences  be  instructed — provided  they 
can  not,  in  their  judgment,  devise  a  plan  for  the  ami 
cable  adjustment  of  the  difficulties  now  existing  in  the 
Church  on  the  subject  of  slavery — to  devise,  if  possible, 
a  constitutional  plan  for  a  mutual  and  friendly  division 
of  the  Church." 

The  adoption  of  this  resolution,  without  debate,  em 
bodied  and  announced  the  decision  of  the  General  Con 
ference  upon  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  body  to 
divide  the  Church. 

An  effort  was  made  to  strike  the  word  "  constitu 
tional  "  from  the  resolution,  but  it  failed,  and  the  reso- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  09 

lution  as  passed  forms  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
division,  bearing  directly  upon  the  constitutional  pre 
rogatives  of  the  General  Conference. 

Dr.  Charles  Elliott,  who  subsequently  made  himself 
notorious  by  denouncing  the  Church,  South,  as  a  seces 
sion,  and  by  making  war  upon  the  "  Plan  of  Separation" 
and  all  that  it  accomplished,  was  the  first  man  in  the 
General  Conference  to  move  the  adoption  of  the  report 
of  the  committee  of  nine,  and  in  a  long  speech  he  urged, 
with  many  arguments,  the  practicability,  the  propriety, 
the  necessity  and  the  expediency  of  a  division  of  the 
Church,  avowing  distinctly  that  "were  the  present  diffi 
culty  out  of  the  way  there  would  be  good  reason  for 
passing  the  resolutions  contained  in  the  report.  The 
body  was  too  large  to  do  business  advantageously. 
The  measure  contemplated  was  not  schism,  but  separa 
tion  for  their  mutual  convenience  and  prosperity.  .. 

After  much  debate  and  a  full  and  free  discussion  of 
every  possible  point  that  could  be  raised  by  that  able 
body  of  men,  amongst  whom  were  many  of  the  best 
constitutional  lawyers  of  the  Church,  the  report  was 
adopted  ;  the  vote  on  the  several  resolutions  varying 
from  135  to  153  in  the  affirmative,  and  from  22  to  12  in 
the  negative.  These  were  certainly  very  large  major 
ities,  and  show  plainly  the  animus  of- the  General  Con 
ference  of  1844. 

With  implicit  confidence  in  the  sincerity  and  good 
faith  of  this  action,  the  Southern  Conferences  proceeded 
to  ascertain  whether  there  existed  a  necessity  in  the 
Southern  States  for  the  separation  thus  provided  for. 

The  Southern  Conferences  were  to  be  the  sole  judges 
of  the  necessity  for  such  action  as  would  make  this  pro- 


70  MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI. 

visional  separation  a  real  one;  and  that  in  their  judg 
ment  such  necessity  did  exist,  the  history  is  in  proof. 
However  greatly  the  opinions  and  purposes  of  men  may 
change,  the  facts  of  history  that  have  gone  to  official 
record  can  not  change.  Upon  such  facts  intelligent 
judgment  alone  can  rest,  and  to  such  facts  an  honest 
public  will  always  make  a  final  appeal. 

"  The  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slaveholding  States" 
did  "find  it  necessary  to  unite  in  a  distinct  ecclesiastical 
connection/'  and  for  that  purpose  met  in  convention,  in 
Louisville,  Ky.,  in  1845,  and  reduced  the  possible  con 
tingency  to  fact.  In  the  organization  of  a  "'distinct 
ecclesiastical  connection  "  the  Louisville  convention 
adhered  strictly  to  the  plan  adopted  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1844.  The  division  of  the  church  into 
two  distinct  co-ordinate  branches,  which,  was  considered 
a  contingency,  and,  as  such,  provided  for  in  1844,  was, 
by  the  action  of  the  "  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slave-- 
holding  States "  represented  in  the  convention  at 
Louisville,  made  an  accomplished  fact  in  1845.  After 
this  convention  erected  the  "Annual  Conferences  in 
the  slaveholding  States  "  into  a  "distinct  ecclesiastical 
connection  "  the  Bishops  of  the  31.  E.  Church  (Xorth) 
met  in  Xew  York,  July,  1845,  and  passed,  among  others, 
the  following  resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  plan  adopted  in  regard  to  a  dis 
tinct  ecclesiastical  connection,  should  such  a  course  be 
found  necessary  by  the  Annual  Conferences  of  the 
slaveholding  States,  is  regarded  by  us  as  of  binding 
obligation  in  the  premises,  so  far  as  our  administration 
is  concerned." 

They  also  gave  instructions  respecting  the  voting  of 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  71 

"those  societies  bordering  on  the  line  of  division,  to 
decide  for  themselves  whether  they  would  adhere  to  the 
Church  North  or  South."  And  they  further  declared 
that  they  did  not  feel  justified  in  presiding  over  the 
Conferences  South,  and  struck  them  from  their  plan  of 
Episcopal  visitation.  Thus  the  Bishops  of  the  Church, 
North,,  quietly  and  gracefully  resigned  their  jurisdiction 
over  the  Southern  Conferences,  because  they  considered 
the  "Plan  of  Separation  "  adopted  in  1844  of  "binding 
obligation." 

The  division  of  the  Church  was  recognized  by  the 
Bishops  of  the  North  as  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the 
"Plan  of  Separation"  as  of  "binding  obligation."  And  it 
may  fairly  be  assumed  that,  had  there  been  no  properly 
interests  to  be  divided  according  to  that  plan,  pro  rata, 
there  would  have  been  "a  mutual  and  friendly  division 
of  the  Church."  But  after  the  separation  had  been 
accomplished  and  recognized  as  legitimate  and  of 
"  binding  obligation,"  the  Northern  wing  of  the  Church 
discovered  that  the  required  vote  of  the  Annual  Con 
ferences  to  change  the  sixth  restrictive  rule  was  not 
obtained,  and  the  pretext  was  furnished  them  to  refuse 
&  pro  rata  or  any  other  division  of  the  property  that 
was  held  by  the  Northern  Church,  which  consisted  of  a 
Book  Concern  in  New  York,  what  was  known  as  a 
Chartered  Fund  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  Book  Con 
cern  in  Cincinnati. 

To  ignore  and  set  aside  the  claims  of  the  Church, 
South,  to  the  common  property  it  was  necessary  to  pro 
nounce  the  General  Conference  of  1844  incompetent  to 
divide  the  Church,  and  to  declare  the  "Plan  of  Separa 
tion  null  and  void,"  so  that  "there  should  exist  no 


72  MARTYRDOM     IX     MISSOURI. 

obligations  to  observe  its  provisions."  This  was  done 
by  the  Northern  General  Conference  of  1848,  after  the 
separation  had  been  acknowledged  by  their  Bishops  as 
an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  "Plan  of  Separation  "  as 
of  "binding  obligation." 

Dr.  Lovick  Pierce,  father  of  Bishop  Pierce,  and  the 
noblest  Roman  of  all,  was  duly  accredited  to  this 
General  Conference  of  1848  as  the  fraternal  messenger 
of  the  Church,  South,  to  express  to  that  body  the 
Christian  regards  and  fraternal  salutations  of  his  Church. 
Upon  the  reception  of  his  credentials  the  General  Con 
ference  "Resolved,  That  as  there  are  serious  questions 
and  difficulties  existing  between  the  two  bodies  it  is  not 
proper  at  present  to  enter  into  fraternal  relations  with 
the  M.  E.  Church,  South." 

Fraternal  intercourse  was  declined  by  official  action. 
The  door  was  shut,  and  the  fraternal  messenger  of  the 
Church,  South,  stood  without,  feeling  most  keenly  the 
unchristian  rejection.  That  he  felt  the  dishonor,  the 
humiliation,  the  insult  thus  offered  to  his  Church  most 
sensibly  the  closing  words  of  his  communication  to  that 
body,  upon  being  notified  of  his  rejection,  is  in  evidence  : 
"You  will  now  regard  this  communication  as  final  on 
the  part  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South. 
She  can  never  renew  the  offer  of  fraternal  relations 
between  the  two  great  bodies  of  Wesleyan  Methodism 
in  the  United  States.  But  the  proposition  can  be  re 
newed  at  any  time,  either  now  or  hereafter,  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  and  if  ever  made,  upon 
the  basis  of  the  Plan  of  Separation  as  adopted  by  the 
General  Conference  of  1844,  the  Church,  South,  will 
cordially  entertain  the  proposition." 


MARTYRDOM     IX     MISSOURI.  73 

His  language  to  the  General  Conference  of  the 
Church,  South,  in  submitting  his  report  to  that  body, 
was  worthy  of  the  great  cause  he  was  delegated  to  serve, 
worthy  of  his  Church,  and  worthy  of  himself.  One 
single  sentence  of  that  report  illustrates  the  whole,  and 
reflects  the  highest  honor  on  his  head  and  heart :  "  Thus 
ended  the  well-intended  commission  from  your  body. 
Upon  this  noble  effort  I  verily  believe  the  smile  of 
Divine  approbation  will  rest  when  the  heavenly  bodies 
themselves  have  ceased  to  shine.  We  did  affectionately 
endeavor  to  make  and  preserve  peace,  but  our  offer  was 
rejected  as  of  no  deserving." 

He  returned  home  and,  with  his  entire  Church,  had 
to  accept  the  situation  thus  decreed  by  the  M.  E.  Church, 
North.  And  with  the  responsibility  of  non-fraterniza 
tion  rests  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  the  fact,  in  the 
estimation  of  the  enlightened  Christian  world,  as  well 
as  all  the  damaging  results. 

But  the  Church,  North,  knowing  that  the  Church, 
South,  could  not  be  divested  of  her  legal  rights  to  the 
property  otherwise,  proceeded  to  set  aside  the  Plan  of 
Separation,  to  pronounce  the  Church,  South,  a  schism, 
and  to  decline  all  fraternal  intercourse.  Thus  cut  off 
as  illegitimate,  as  schismatics  and  as  secessionists,  by  an 
action  wholly  ex  parte,  all  claim  upon  the  common 
Church  property  was  denied,  and  all  the  authority  of 
commissions  to  settle  with  the  Church,  South,  was  re 
voked. 

An  appeal  to  the  civil  courts  was  thus  made  necessary, 
and  the  strong  arm  of  the  civil  law  was  evoked  to  force 
the  unwilling  conscience  of  the  Northern  Church,  and 
to  become  "  a  judge  and  a  divider  over  us." 


74  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  in  detail  the  history  of  these 
civil  suits.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  United  States 
Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York 
and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  both  recog 
nized  and  affirmed  the  authority  of  the  General  Con 
ference  to  divide  the  Church,  pronounced  that  body 
competent  to  provide  a  plan  of  separation,  fix  a  boundary 
line,  determine  the  status  of  ministers,  adjust  the  rights 
of  property,  and  erect  two  separate  and  distinct  ecclesi 
astical  bodies,  of  co-ordinate  existence  and  authority,, 
out  of  the  M.  E.  Church  of  the  United  States.  These 
highest  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country  did  affirm  the 
validity  of  the  "  Plan  of  Separation  "  adopted  by  the 
General  Conference  of  1844  to  be  of  a binding  obliga 
tion"  in  every  part  and  particular;  and,  notwithstand 
ing  the  failure  of  the  sixth  restrictive  rule,  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New 
York  caused  a  decree  to  be  entered,  November  26th, 
1851,  ordering  a  pro  rat  a  share  of  the  property  of  the 
New  York  Book  Concern,  including  both  capital  and 
produce,  to  be  transferred  to  the  agents  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  and  it  was  referred  to  the  Clerk  of  the 
Court  to  ascertain  the  amount  and  value  of  the  property. 
"When  he  reported,  exceptions  were  filed,  the  Court 
could  not  agree  upon  some  points,  and  the  case  was 
certified  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
decision. 

Judge  McLean,  a  leading  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
and  at  the  time  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  induced  the  Commissioners  of  the  two 
parties  to  come  together  in  New  York.  The  result  of 
this  interview  was  an  agreement  between  them  about 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  75 

dividing  the  property  of  the  New  York  Book  Concern, 
which  agreement  was  afterward  made  a  part  of  the 
decree  of  the  TJ.  S.  Circuit  Court,  December  8th,  1852. 
By  this  decree  the  property  of  the  New  York  Book 
Concern  was  settled,  of  which  the  Church,  South,  ob 
tained  about  $191,000. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  insert  here  apart  of  the 
decision  of  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
Southern  District  of 'New  York,  Justice  Nelson  and 
Judge  Betts  presiding.  The  former  delivered  the 
opinion  of  the  Court. 

After  analyzing  the  Plan  of  Separation,  the  decision 
of  the  Court  goes  on  to  say  :  "Now,  it  will  be  seen  from 
this  analysis  of  the  Plan  of  Separation  that  the  only 
condition  or  contingency  upon  which  an  absolute 
division  of  the  Church  organization  was  made  to  de 
pend  was  the  action  of  the  several  Annual  Conferences 
in  the  slaveholders;  States.  If  these  should  find  it 

O 

necessary  to  unite  in  favor  of  a  distinct  organization, 
by  the  very  terms  of  the  Plan  the  separation  was  to  take 
place  according  to  the  boundary  designated.  It  was 
left  to  them  to  judge  of  the  necessity,  and  their  judg 
ment  is  made  final  in  the  matter.  And  when  the  divi 
sion  is  made,  and  the  Church  divided  into  two  separate 
bodies,  it  is  declared  that  ministers  of  every  grade  and 
office  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  may,  as  they 
prefer,  remain  in  that  Church,  or  without  blame  attach 
themselves  to  the  Church,  South.  The  whole  Plan  of 
Separation  confirms  this  view.  As  soon  as  the  separa 
tion  takes  place,  in  accordance  with  the  first  resolution, 
all  the  property  in  meeting-houses,  parsonages,  colleges, 
schools,  Conference  funds  and  cemeteries,  within  the 


76  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

limits  of  the  Southern  organization  is  declared  to  be 
free  from  any  claim  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  Church. 
The  general  and  common  property,  such  as  notes  and 
other  obligations,  together  with  the  property  and  effects 
belonging  to  the  printing  establishments  at  Charleston, 
Kichmond  and  Nashville,  and  the  capital  and  produce 
of'the  Book  Concern  at  New  York,  was  reserved  for 
future  adjustment.  This  was  necessary  on  account  of 
the  restrictive  article  upon  the  power  of  the  General 
Conference.  When  the  Annual  Con 

ferences  in  the  slaveholding  States  acted,  and  organized 
a  Southern  Church,  as  they  did,  the  division  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  into  two  organizations 
became  complete.  And  so  would  the  adjustment  of  the 
common  property  between  them,  if  the  assent  of  all  the 
Annual  Conferences  had  been  given  to  the  change  of 
the  restrictive  article.  The  failure  to  give  that  has  left 
this  part  of  the  plan  open,  the  only  consequence  of 
which  is  to  deprive  the  Southern  division  of  its  share  of 
.the  property  dependent  upon  this  assent,  and  leave  it 
to  get  along  as  it  best  may,  unless  a  right  to  recover  its 
possession  legally  results  from  the  authorized  division 
into  two  separate  organizations." 

The  suit  for  a  division  in  the  Cincinnati  Book  Concern 
was  brought  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  for  the 
District  of  Ohio,  July  12th,  1849.  The  evidence  agreed 
on  by  the  counsel  for  both  parties  was  the.  same  used  in 
the  New  York  case.  Justice  McLean  declined  to  sit  in 
the  case,  because  he  had  previously  expressed  his 
opinion  that  the  Sixth  Eestrictive  Eule  could  be  con 
stitutionally  modified  by  the  General  and  Annual  Con- 


MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.  77 

ferenccs  so  as  "to  authorize  an  equitable  division  of  the 
fund  with  the  M.  E.  Church,  South." 

Judge  Leavitt  presided,  and  reached  the  decision  that 
"the  General  Conference  possessed  no  authority,  di 
rectly  or  indirectly,  to  divide  the  Church."  And  that, 
as  the  Annual  Conference's  did  not  change  the  Sixth 

O 

Eestrictive  Rule,  the  Church,  South,  could  not  recover ; 
and  dismissed  the  suit.  He  said,  however,  that  the 
power  to  divide  the  Church  "rested  with  the  body  of 
the  traveling  ministry,  assembled  en  masse  in  a  conven 
tional  capacit}'."  This  was  fatal  to  his  whole  decision; 
for  since  the  first  delegated  General  Conference  in  1808, 
the  whole  body  of  the  traveling  ministry  had  been  as 
sembling  by  delegation  every  four  years,  and  authorized 
to  exercise  all  the  powers  of  the  entire  body  of  travel 
ing  preachers,  six  clearly  defined  restrictions  on  its 
powers  only  exccptcd. 

From  the  decision  of  Judge  Leavitt  the  Commissioners 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  appealed  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States.  That  august  tribunal  was 
then  composed  of  Chief  Justice  Taney,  and  Associate 
Justices  McLean,  Wayne,  Catron,  Daniel,  Nelson,  Grier, 
Curtis  and  Campbell.  (Justice  McLean  did  not  sit  in 
the  case.) 

The  cause  was  heard  in  Washington  City,  in  April, 
1854,  and  the  decision  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the 
Church,  South,  was  without  dissent  from  any  of  the 
Justices.  Judge  Nelson  delivered  the  opinion  of  the 
Court,  April  25th,  1854.  The  main  points  settled  by 
that  decision  are  these  :  (1)  That  the  Methodist  Episco 
pal  Church  in  the  "United  States  was  divided.  (2)  It 
was  not  a  secession  of  a  part  from  the  main  body.  (3) 


78  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

By  it  neither  division  lost  its  interest  in  the  common 
property.  (4)  The  General  Conference  of  1844  had  the 
power  to  divide  the  Church  into  two  distinct  ecclesias 
tical  bodies.  (5)  The  six  restrictive  articles  did  not 
deprive  the  General  Conference  of  the  authority  and 
power  to  divide  the  Church.  (6)  The  proposed  change 
of  the  Sixth  Eestrictive  Eule  was  not  a  condition  of 
separation,  but  to  enable  the  General  Conference  to 
carry  out  its  purpose.  (7)  The  separation  of  the 
Church  into  two  distinct  parts  being  legally  accom 
plished,  the  "Plan  of  Separation  "  must  be  carried  out 
in  good  faith,  and  a  division  of  the  joint  property  by  a 
Court  of  Equity  follows  as  a  matter  of  course. 

By  this  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  obtained  from  the  Cincinnati  Book  Con 
cern,  in  money,  bonds,  Southern  notes  and  accounts, 
about  $93,000. 

These  facts  have  all  been  gathered  from  official  docu 
ments,  and  will  not  be  denied.  If  they  serve  to  place 
before  the  public,  in  a  succinct  form,  the  true  history  of 
the  division  of  the  Church,  and  by  so  doing  countervail 
the  many  misrepresentations  and  mischievous  false 
hoods  that  have  led  to  the  unprovoked  persecutions  of 
the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  in  Missouri 
and  elsewhere,  the  end  will  be  reached  and  the  labor 
will  not  be  in  vain. 

As  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  in  the  above  case  is  not  accessible  to  every  reader, 
it  may  serve  the  purpose  of  history,  while  it  serves  the 
cause  of  truth  and  righteousness,  to  put  in  convenient 
form,  and  as  a  befitting  close  to  this  chapter,  that  de 
cision  in  full — except  so  much  of  it  as  was  necessary  to 
carry  out  the  decree  of  the  Court  in  detail. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  79 

DECISION  OP-  THE  SUPEEMB  COUET. 
"  WILLIAM  A.  SMITH,  et  al.,  vs.  LEROY  SWORMSTEDT,  et  al. 

"  This  was  the  appeal  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  for  the  District  of  Ohio,  which  dismissed 
the  bill. 

"This  cause  came  on  to  be  heard  on  the  transcript  of 
the  record  from  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  District  of  Ohio,  and  was  argued  by  counsel. 
On  consideration  whereof  it  is  ordered,  adjudged  and 
decreed  by  this  Court  that  the  decree  of  said  Circuit 
Court  in  this  cause  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  reversed 
and  annulled ;  and  this  Court  doth  farther  find,  adjudge 
and  decree : 

"  1.  That  under  the  resolution  of  the  General  Confer 
ence  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  holden  at  the 
city  of  New  York,  according  to  the  usage  and  discipline 
of  said  Church,  passed  on  the  eighth  day  of  June,  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
forty-four  (in  the  pleadings  mentioned),  it  was,  among 
other  things,  and  in  virtue  of  the  power  of  said  General 
Conference,  well  agreed  and  determined  by  the  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
as  then  existing,  that  in  case  the  Annual  Conferences 
in  the  slaveholding  States  should  find  it  necessary  to 
unite  in  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connection,  the  minis 
ters,  local  and  traveling,  of  every  grade  and  office  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  might  attach  themselves 
to  such  new  ecclesiastical  connection  without  blame. 

"  2.  That  the  said  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slave- 
holding  States  did  find  and  determine  that  it  was  right, 
expedient  and  necessary  to  erect  the  Annual  Confer- 


80  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

ences  last  aforesaid  into  a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connec 
tion,  based  upon  the  discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  aforesaid^  comprehending  the  doctrines  and 
entire  moral  and  ecclesiastical  rules  and  regulations  of 
the  said  discipline  (except  only  in  so  far  as  verbal  alter 
ations  might  be  necessary  to  or  for  a  distinct  organiza 
tion),  which  new  ecclesiastical  connection  was  to  be 
known  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  and  that  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  was  duly  organized  under  said  resolutions  of  the 
said  Annual  Conferences  last  aforesaid,  in  a  convention 
thereof  held  at  Louisville,  in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  in 
the  month  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-five. 

"3.  That  by  force  of  the  said  resolutions  of  June  the 
eighth,  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-four,  and  of  the 
authority  and  power  of  the  said  General  Conference  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  then  existing,  by 
which  the  same  were  adopted ;  and  by  virtue  of  the  said 
finding  and  determination  of  the  said  Annual  Confer 
ences  in  the  slaveholding  States  therein  mentioned,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  organization  of  such  Conferences  into 
a  distinct  ecclesiastical  connection  as  last  aforesaid,  the 
religious  association  known  as  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  as  then  existing, 
was  divided  into  two  associations,  or  distinct  Methodist 
Episcopal  Churches,  as  in  the  bill  of  complaint  is  alleged. 

"4.  That  the  property  denominated  the  Methodist 
Book  Concern  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  pleadings  men 
tioned,  was,  at  the  time  of  said  division  and  immedi 
ately  before,  a  fund  subject  to  the  following  use,  that  is 
to  say,  that  the  profits  arising  therefrom,  after  retain- 


MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.  81 

ing  a  sufficient  capital  to  carry  on  the  business  thereof, 
were  to  be  regularly  applied  toward  the  support  of  the 
deficient  traveling,  supernumerary,  superannuated  and 
worn-out  preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
their  wives,  widows  and  children,  according  to  the  rules 
and  Discipline  of  said  church,  and  that  the  "said  fund 
and  property  are  held  under  the  act  of  incorporation  in 
the  said  answer  mentioned  by  the  said  defendants, 
Leroy  Swormstedt  and  John  II.  Power,  as  agents  of 
said  Book  Concern,  and  in  trust  for  the  purposes 
thereof. 

"  5.  That,  in  virtue  of  the  said  division  of  said  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  the  defi 
cient,  traveling,  supernumerary,  superannuated  and 
worn-out  preachers,  their  wives,  widows  and  children 
comprehended  in,  or  in  connection  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  were,  are,  and  continue  to  be, 
beneficiaries  of  the  said  Book  Concern  to  the  same  ex 
tent  and  as  fully  as  if  the  said  division  had  not  taken 
place,  and  in  the  same  manner  and  degree  as  persons 
of  the  same  description  who  are  comprehended  in,  or 
in  connection  with,  the  other  association,  denominated, 
since  the  division,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and 
that  as  well  the  principal  as  the  profits  of  said  Book 
Concern,  since  said  division,  should  of  right  be  admin 
istered  and  managed  by  the  respective  General  and 
Annual  Conferences  of  the  said  two  associations  and 
Churches  under  the  separate  organizations  thereof,  and 
according  to  the  shares  or  proportions  of  the  same  as 
hereinafter  mentioned,  and  in  conformity  with  the  rules 
and  Discipline  of  said  respective  associations,  so  as  to 

carry  out  the  purposes  and  trusts  aforesaid. 
6 


$2  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

"  6.  That  so  much  of  the  capital  and  property  of  said 
Book  Concern  at  Cincinnati,  wherever  situated,  and  so 
much  of  the  produce  and  profits  thereof  as  may  not 
have  been  heretofore  accounted  for  to  said  Church, 
South,  in  the  New  York  case  hereinafter  mentioned,  or 
otherwise,-  shall  be  paid  to  said  Church,  South,  accord 
ing  to  the  rate  and  proportions  following,  that  is  to 
say :  In  respect  to  the  capital,  such  share  or  part  as 
corresponds  with  the  proportion  which  the  number  of 
the  traveling  preachers  in  the  Annual  Conferences 
which  formed  themselves  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  bore  to  the  number  of  all  the  traveling 
preachers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  before 
the  division  thereof,  which  numbers  shall  be  fixed  and 
ascertained  as  they  are  shown  by  the  minutes  of  the 
several  Annual  Conferences  next  preceding  the  said 
division  and  new  organization  in  the  month  of  May,  A. 
D.  eighteen  hundred  and  forty-five. 

"And  in  respect  to  the  produce  and  profits,  such 
share  or  part  as  the  number  of  Annual  Conferences 
which  formed  themselves  into  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  South,  bore  at  the  time  of  said  division  in  May, 
A.  D.  1845,  to  the  whole  number  of  Annual  Confer 
ences  then  being  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
excluding  the  Liberia  Conference,  so  that  the  division 
or  apportionment  of  said  produce  and  profits  shall  be 
had  by  Conferences,  and  not  by  numbers  of  the  travel 
ing  preachers. 

"  7.  That  said  payment  of  capital  and  profits,  accord 
ing  to  the  ratios  of  appointment  so  declared,  shall  be 
made  and  paid  to  the  said  Smith,  Parsons  and  Green, 
.as  Commissioners  aforesaid,  or  their  successors,  on  be- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  83 

half  of  said  Chuch,  South,  and  the  beneficiaries  therein, 
or  to  such  other  person  or  persons  as  may  be  thereto 
authorized  by  the  General  Conference  of  said  Church, 
South,  the  same  to  be  subsequently  managed  and  ad 
ministered  so  as  to  carry  out  the  trusts  and  uses  afore 
said,  according  to  the  Discipline  of  said  Church,  South, 
and  the  regulations  of  the  General  Conference  thereof." 


84  MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER    V. 

FROM     THE     DIVISION     OF     THE     CHURCH,    IN     1845,    TO    THE 
BEGINNING    OF    THE    CIVIL    WAR,    IN    1861. 

Provisions  of  the  Plan  of  Separation  —  Time  of  Division  —  The 
Missouri  a  Border  Conference  —  Vote  on  Adhering  North  or 
South  nearly  Unanimous — The  Disaffected — Covenant  Breakers 
— The  M.  E.  Church  in  Missouri  after  the  Division — Her  Minis 
ters  and  Members  —  How  Kegarded  —  Relative  Strength  of  the 
Two  Churches  in  Numbers  and  Property — Sympathy — Perse 
cution — Tenacity  in  Spite  of  Opposition — Su'ccess'the^only  Revenge 
—The  Class  of  Northern  Methodist  Preachers— Their  Connection 
with  Clandestine  Efforts  to  Free  the  Slaves— Their  Condemnation 
and  their  Secret  Service— Character  of  the  Old  Missourians — 
Their  Vindication — Northern  Methodists  Condemned  for  being 
Secret  Political  Partisans,  and  not  for  Preaching  the  Gospel — The 
Anti-Slavery  Element  in  Missouri  Ten  Years  before  the  War — 
Lawful  vs.  Clandestine  Means — "Underground  Railroad"  and 
other  Nefarious  Schemes  to  Run  off  the  Slaves  of  Missouri — These 
Things  Condemned  by  the  Anti-Slavery  Party — Public  Meetings 
of  Citizens  in  the  Interest  of  Order  and  Peace. 

The  "  Plan  of  Separation  "  adopted  by  the  General 
Conference  of  1844,  to  which  attention  is  given  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  fixed  the  line  of  separation  along 
the  line  of  division  between  the  free  and  the  slavehold- 
ing  States,  for  the  most  part,  and  provided  as  follows, 
to-wit : 

"  1.  That,  should  the  Annual  Conferences  in  the  slave- 
holding  States  find  it  necessary  to  unite  in  a  distinct 
ecclesiastical  connection,  the  following  rule  shall  be 
observed  with  regard  to  the  northern  boundary  of  such 
connection :  All  the  societies,  stations  and  Conferences 
adhering  to  the  Church  in  the  South,  by  a  vote  of  a 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  85 

majority  of  the  members  of  said  societies,  stations  and 
Conferences,  shall  remain  under  the  unmolested  pas 
toral  care  of  the  Southern  Church,  and  the  ministers  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  shall  in  no  wise 
attempt  to  organize  churches  or  societies  within  the 
limits  of  the  Church,  South,  nor  shall  they  attempt, to 
exercise  any  pastoral  oversight  therein  :  it  being  under 
stood  that  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  South,  reciprocally 
observe  the  same  rule  in  relation  to  societies,  stations 
and  Conferences  adhering  by  vote  of  a  majority  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  provided,  also,  that 
this  rule  shall  apply  only  to  societies,  stations  and  Con 
ferences  bordering  on  the  line  of  division,  and  not  to 
interior  charges,  which  shall  in  all  cases  be  left  to  the 
care  of  that  Church  within  whose  territory  they  may 
be  situated." — General  Conference  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  135. 
The  Missouri  Annual  Conference  was  one  of  the  Con 
ferences  "bordering  on  the  line  of  division,"  and  the 

O  * 

question  of  adhering  North  or  South  was  thoroughly 
canvassed  and  decided  almost  unanimously  in  favor  of 
the  South.  Those  ministers  favoring  the  North  were 
allowed  to  adhere  North  "without  blame,"  by  the 
"Plan  of  Separation."  They  were  seven  out  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-six. 

Prior  to  the  session  of  the  Conference  in  Columbia, 
in  the  fall  of  1845,  when  the  vote  was  taken,  the 
*'  societies  and  stations,"  along  the  border  particularly, 
were  asked  to  decide  by  a  vote  of  the  members 
whether  they  would  adhere  North  or  South.  The 
vote  was  so  nearly  unanimous  in  favor  of  adhering 
South  that  not  a  single  " society  or  station"  in  the 
Conference  gave  a  majority  in  favor  of  adhering 


86  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

North,  and  in  very  few  of  them  was  there  a  division  at 
all.  In  a  few  societies  along  the  border,  such  as  St. 
Louis,  Hannibal,  Lagrange  and  some  others,  and  a  few 
scattering  societies  in  the  interior,  there  was  a  small 
minority  in  favor  of  adhering  North.  These  were 
generally  men  recently  from  the  Northern  States,  or 
mal-contents  who  rejoiced  in  the  occasion  thus  afforded 
to  seek  notoriety  or  revenge  in  a  contentious  faction. 
Such  persons  are  found,  more  or  less,  in  every  com 
munity,  and  unfortunately  for  the  peace  of  society  some 
sections  of  Missouri  unwittingly  offered  special  induce 
ments  to  that  class  of  immigrants,  and  received  quite  a 
large  surplus  of  them  from  the  older  States.  Amongst 
the  few  disaffected  of  Missouri  Methodists  who  would 
not  go  with  the  majority  in  this  division  may  have  been 
some  honorable  exceptions,  but  they  were  few  and  far 
between,  and  only  prove  the  general  rule. 

The  vote  to  adhere  South  was  so  general  in  tho  State 
that  no  one  thought  of  accepting  the  "  pastoral  care  " 
of  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  until  after 
that  Church  had  pronounced  the  "Plan  of  Separation 
null  and  void,"  and  had  proceeded  to  violate  their 
plighted  faith  and  disregard  every  "binding  obligation 
in  the  premises/' 

The  right  and  authority  of  one  party  to  set  aside  and 
declare  "  null  and  void  "  a  solemn  contract  or  covenant 
entered  into  by  two  parties,  without  the  consent  of  the 
other  party,  is  not  debatable.  The  failure  of  the  sixth 
restrictive  rule,  according  to  the  decision  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  did  not  vitiate  the  covenant,  nor 
had  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  up  to  1854,  by  act  or 
deed,  according  to  the  same  high  authority,  forfeited 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  87 

the  covenant  to  the  other  party  by  any  failure  to  com 
ply  with  its  provisions. 

The  assumption  of  authority,  therefore,  by  the  M.  E. 
Church  to  set  aside  the  conditions  of  the  covenant,  to 
violate  what  their  Bishops  had  pronounced  its  "binding 
obligations  in  the  premises/'  to  reject  the  fraternal 
messenger  and  ignore  the  claims  of  the  Church,  South, 
and  proceed  to  "  organize  churches  and  societies  within 
the  limits  of  the  Church,  South,"  could  only  exhibit  to 
the  world  their  utter  recklessness  of  moral  obligation 
and  place  them  before  the  public  as  covenant  breakers, 
"truce  breakers  and  false  accusers." 

In  such  light  were  they  and  their  friends  and  abettors 
held  in  Missouri,  after  the  Church  in  the  whole  State 
had  decided  so  positively  to  adhere  South.  Indeed,  so 
general  was  this  decision,  that  for  many  years  after  the 
division  the  existence  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  in 
Missouri  was  scarcely  suspected  by  the  best  informed. 

There  were  but  few  places  in  the  State  where  their 
presence  was  tolerated;  not  because  of  any  religious  or 
political  proscription  and  persecution,  but  because  their 
presence  in  Missouri  was  not  only  unauthorized,  but  in 
direct  violation  of  the  most  solemn  ecclesiastical  com 
pact,  for  which  an  instinctive  sense  of  right  in  every 
community  was  disposed  to  hold  the  Northern  Metho 
dist  preachers  responsible. 

All  our  best  notions  of  religious  toleration  revolt  at 
the  idea  of  proscribing  the  largest  liberties  of  any 
church  in  any  country  or  community  for  any  reasons. 
But,  then,  when  a  church  deliberately  proscribes  herself 
and  fixes  her  own  limits  of  territory,  transferring  all 
her  claims  to  property  and  privileges  beyond  her  self- 


88  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

appointed  boundaries  to  another  and  a  "  distinct  ecclesi 
astical  organization/'  a  decent  respect  for  moral  obliga 
tion  and  the  covenanted  rights  of  others  demand  that 
every  enlightened  community  should  hold  every  such 
church  to  the  strictest  accountability  for  every  violation 
of  her  self-imposed  obligations.  Covenant  breakers 
forfeit  their  claims  to  all  the  benefits  of  the  covenant 
broken,  if  they  do  not  forfeit  their  claims  upon  the  con 
fidence  and  protection  of  the  community  whose  rights 
and  privileges  the  broken  covenant  respected. 

Communities  whose  sense  of  justice  and  moral  right 
are  outraged  by  religious  teachers,  to  whom  neither 
civil  nor  criminal  law  will  apply,  have  recourse  only  to 
a  public  sentiment  which  can  place  the  guilty  under  the 
ban  of  public  condemnation.  The  Northern  Methodist 
preachers  who  were  trying  to  "  organize  societies  "  and 
"  exercise  pastoral  care  "  in  Missouri,  from  the  division 
of  the  Church  in  1844  to  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war 
in  1861,  need  not  be  reminded  how  terrible  and  general 
was  this  ban  of  public  condemnation.  It  was  not  a 
proscription  which  they  themselves  had  not  authorized ; 
nor  could  they  claim  the  benefits  of  a  persecution  for 
righteousness'  sake  without  confessing  to  an  indictment 
which  truth  and  honesty  found  against  them  for  obtain 
ing  said  benefits  under  false  pretenses.  They  raised 
the  cry  of  persecution,  but  failed  to  enlist  the  popular 
sympathy  due  to  such  a  cry,  because  the  virtues  and 
elements  of  a  religious  persecution  were  all  wanting. 
They,  nevertheless,  managed  to  keep  up  a  factious, 
feeble  organization  in  some  places  in  the  State,  sus 
tained  by  missionary  money  from  the  North,  which 
took  advantage  of  every  popular  excitement  against 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  89 

them  to  manufacture  foreign  sympathy,  and,  at  the 
same  time,  furnished  a  convenient  refuge  for  the  dis 
affected,  mal-contents,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

They  sought,  by  maintaining  a  convenient  proximity 
to  the  Southern  Church,  not  only  to  catch  the  Metho 
dist  immigration  from  the  North,  but,  also,  to  afford  a 
convenient  retreat  for  those  who  seek  in  prominence 
what  they  lack  in  piety,  and  to  "  beguile  unstable  souls  " 
with  the  false  plea  of  "  Old  Church  "  and  "  Old  Metho 
dism."  Thus,  while  serving  all  the  purposes  of  fac 
tious  agitation,  and  furnishing  in  themselves  an  ex 
ample  of  covenant  breaking  for  covetousness'  sake, 
which  can  never  be  reproduced  and  re-enacted,  they 
have,  also,  served  the  purposes  of  peace  and  purity  by 
receiving  from  other  churches  the  contentious,  the  dis 
satisfied  and  the  disaffected.  It  was  an  easy  road  to  a 
miserable  revenge,  as  it  was  often  a  happy  riddance  of 
a  pestilent  element,  while  the  rule  of  loss  and  gain  was 
reversed. 

The  relation  of  the  two  churches  during  that  period 
to  the  people  of  the  whole  State  will  be  seen  in  their 
statistics.  At  the  time  of  the  division  the  whole  Church 
in  -Missouri  numbered  26,310  members,  served  by  113 
traveling  preachers.  In  1850  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
had  27,012  members  and  126  traveling  preachers  in 
Missouri  alone.  In  1850  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  had 
5,474  members  and  fifty-one  traveling  preachers  in 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  together. 

The  relative  strength  of  the  two  churches  in  1860  is 
seen  in  the  following  figures:  The  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  had  48,797  members  and  243  traveling  preachers, 


90  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

and  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  had  6,619  members  and 
sixty-nine  traveling  preachers. 

In  church  property  there  was  a  much  greater  differ 
ence.  When  the  Church  divided,  all  the  property  in 
churches,  parsonages,  cemeteries,  colleges,  Conference 
funds,  and  of  every  other  description,  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  according  to  the 
"Plan  of  Separation."  Those  who  voted  to  adhere 
North  were  not  strong  enough  in  any  one  place  to  set 
up  any  claim  to  the  Church  property.  The  Church, 
North,  was  thus  left  without  houses  of  worship  or  any 
other  property  possessions  in  the  State.  By  common, 
consent,  as  well  as  by  the  decision  of  the  courts,  the 
division  of  the  Church  extinguished  the  right  and  title 
of  the  M.  E.  Church  to  all  property  in  the  State  of 
Missouri.  The  struggle  for  existence,  under  the  circum 
stances,  was  a  forlorn  hope,  and  the  erection  of  churches 
in  communities  where  they  were  not  in  sympathy  with 
either  the  masses  or  the  moneyed  people  was  a  slow 
and  doubtful  enterprise.  They  had  to  rely,  for  the 
most  part,  upon  private  houses  in  obscure  neighbor 
hoods  for  places  of  public  worship,  for  it  was  not  always 
that  they  could  even  get  the  use  of  school  houses  .for 
that  purpose.  In  St.  Louis  they  had  one  Church, 
Ebenezer,  which  had  to  supply  them  with  church 
facilities  for  the  whole  State  for  many  years.  They 
built  a  small  church  in  Hannibal  in  1850.  In  1856 
they  added  Simpson  Chapel,  in  St.  Louis,  to  the  list, 
and  then,  in  1858,  they  erected  a  small  brick  church  in 
Jefferson  City,  for  which  they  had  help  from  abroad. 
These  were  all  small  churches,  but  amply  sufficient  for 
all  their  wants.  They  may  have  had  a  few  other  small 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  91 

churches  in  different  sections  of  the  State,  but  their 
number  and  resources  were  quite  small,  and  their  in 
fluence  for  good  in  each  community  was  unfortunately 
counteracted  by  the  spirit  of  contention  and  strife  they 
created.  In  1860  the  whole  of  their  Church  property 
in  this  State  and  in  Arkansas  was  estimated  in  their 
statistics  at  $36,400. 

Under  these  circumstances  it  is  not  surprising  if  they 
made  up  in  bitter,  spiteful  jealousies  what  they  lacked 
in  the  true  elements  of  success,  and  repaid  the  public 
disapprobation  in  a  dogged  tenacity  that  seeks  revenge 
in  success  despite  all  opposition. 

They  had  no  friendly  feeling  for  the  Church,  South, 
and  gladly  and  freely  employed  every  means  to  disaffect 
and  disintegrate  the  Southern  organization,  especially 
in  obscure  neighborhoods.  Nor  did  they  scruple  at  the 
grossest  misrepresentations  of  the  facts  concerning  the 
division  of  the  Church. 

Their  preachers  traversed  the  State  and  visited  every 
family  that  was  suspected  of  being  in  sympathy  with 
them;  and- wherever  two  or  three  could  be  gathered 
together  of  kindred  sympathy  they  were  organized  into 
a  society,  regularly  visited',  and  made  a  nucleus  around 
which  to  gather  the  disaffected  and  disappointed  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South. 

The  preachers  engaged  in  this  work  were  not  of  the 
class  and  style  of  men  whose  ministrations  would 
reach  and  affect  the  intelligent  and  cultivated  portions 
of  the  people.  They  were,  for  the  most  part,  rough, 
uncultivated  and  illiterate,  and  hence  their  social  and 
intellectual  affinities  were  found  among  the  lower  classes 
and  the  ignorant.  They^were  the  kind  of  men  to  be 


92  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

doggedly  pertinacious,  and  to  know  nothing  amongst 
men  outside  of  one  idea,  one  purpose,  one  cause.  They 
looked  upon  everything  that  did  not  favor  them  and 
their  cause  as  wrong  per  se,  and  considered  their  mission 
unfulfilled  until  it  was  righted  or  removed. 

They  had  more  patience  than  charity.  They  could 
bide  their  time,  but  could  not  tolerate  opposition.  They 
could  proscribe,  and  even  persecute,  others  for  opinion's 
sake,  bat  could  not  endure  with  fortitude  the  reflex 
influence  of  their  own  bigotry. 

Public  opinion  and  Jesuitical  policy  required  them  to 
be  discreet  as  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  their  public 
performances,  but  as  partisans  they  were  strangely  in 
discreet.  They  were  sent  into  Missouri  by  the  authorities 
of  their  Church  distinctly  and  thoroughly  indoctrinated 
in  the  belief  that  the  success  of  the  Church  whose  cre 
dentials  they  bore  was  in  the  success  of  the  anti-slavery 
party;  hence  they  were  secret  and  earnest  partisans 
out  of  the  pulpit.  They  associated  with  abolitionists, 
and  warmly  espoused  every  measure  for  the  abolition 
of  slavery.  Whether  right  or  wrong,  slavery  existed 
then  by  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  of  the  State 
and  under  the  protection  of  her  laws;  and,  like  all  other 
men,  slaveholders  could  not  surrender  tamely  their  con 
stitutional  and  legal  rights  to  that  species  of  property 
in  which  they  had  invested  their  money,  much  less 
could  they  look  with  indifference  upon  the  presence  and 
movements  of  men  who  were  seeking  by  clandestine, 
"  under-ground  "  methods  to  render  insecure  their  pro 
perty  by  means  neither  open  nor  honorable. 

No  class  of  men  were  more  favorably  circumstanced 
for  the  prosecution  of  such  a  work  than  these  Northern 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  93 

Methodist  preachers,  and  they  were  considered  by  the 
abolition  party  as  indispensable  to  final  success. 

It  was  in  the  character  of  partisans,  and  not  ministers, 
that  they  were  put  under  the  ban  of  public  sentiment. 
The  fact  that  they  were  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and 
that  they  used  the  privileges  of  their  profession  to  fur 
ther  the  objects  of  a  party  that  sought  by  unlawful  and 
disingenuous  means  the  extirpation  of  slavery,  made 
their  presence,  character  and  work  the  more  offensive 
to  the  people  of  the  State.  The  common  opinion  among 
men  who  cared  less  for  the  institutions  of  Christianity 
than  for  the  institutions  of  the  State  was  that  the 
Northern  Methodist  preachers  in  this  State  were  wolves 
in  sheep's  clothing.  Only  by  an  unseemly  torture  of 
facts  could  they  make  it  appear  that  they  were  opposed 
and  persecuted  because  they  were  ministers  of  the 
gospel. 

When  ministers  of  the  gospel  become  political  parti 
sans,  and  expect  their  high  calling  to  protect  them  in  a 
sinister  attempt  to  abolish  the  institutions  and  laws 
under  which  the  rights  of  property  are  protected,  they 
should  not  complain  if  honorable  men  detect  and  de 
nounce  the  hypocrisy. 

The  spirit  of  reckless  insubordination  that  animated 
these  fanatical  preachers  has  often,  of  late,  found  em 
phatic  utterance  through  their  Church  papers.  This  is 
its  language  :  "  We  must  teach  people  to  make  better 
laws,  or  trample  upon  such  as  are  made,  if  we  expect  to 
meet  God  in  peace." 

But  in  those  days  the  utterance  was  in  the  signs  and 
symbols  of  secret  societies,  and  the  execution  was  in  the 
by-ways,  around  the  corners,  in  "  Uncle  Tom's  cabin/' 


94  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

in  occasional  doses  of  poison  and  midnight  arson,  with 
the  aid  of  butcher-knives,  axes  and  "  under-ground 
railroads."  For  such  work  true  ministers  of  the  gospel 
are  never  held  responsible;  but  when  it  is  incited  and 
aided  by  those  calling  themselves  such,  the  verdict  of 
double  guilt  can  not  be  escaped. 

It  would  be  as  unfair  to  say  that  all  Northern  Metho 
dist  preachers  in  the  State  engaged  in  this  nefarious 
business  as  to  say  that  none  of  them  were  respectable, 
Christian  gentlemen.  Suspicion  rested  upon  all  of 
them,  because  the  grounds  of  suspicion  were  too  strong 
and  the  evidence  of  guilt  too  general  to  make  wholesale 
exceptions.  ISTor  did  the  masses  of  the  people  know  or 
care  to  discriminate. 

It  is  true  that  very  few  men  of  worth,  of  ability,  or 
of  standing  in  the  M.  E.  Church  could  be  had  for  this 
work.  They  looked  upon  it  as  involving  much  toil, 
sacrifice,  suffering,  and  perhaps  martyrdom,  for  which 
they  were  not  candidates.  But  men  who  had  broken 
down  in  other  fields,  and  were  no  longer  wanted  in 
other  Conferences,  and  men  who  had  despaired  of  dis 
tinction  in  the  more  honorable  fields  of  competition 
with  their  brethren,  embraced  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded  to  win  notoriety. 

The  men  who  could  consent  to  do  such  work  for  a 
political  party  while  they  wore  the  cloth  of  a  holy  call 
ing  were  the  pliant  tools  of  the  John  Browns  and  others 
who  were  prominent  leaders  in  the  great  crusade  against 
the  institutions  of  the  South. 

It  is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  state  that  the  old 
settlers  of  Missouri  and  the  slaveholders  of  that  day 
were  high-minded,  honorable,  intelligent  men,  who 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  95 

would  scorn  to  proscribe  and  persecute  men  for  opinion's 
sake,  or  protect  and  harbor  men  who  would  secretly 
and  treacherously  use  the  hospitality  of  the  slaveholder 
to  reach  the  slave  and  poison  his  mind  against  his 
master,  and  inspire  him  with  the  hope  of  freedom  by 
the  torch  and  the  dagger. 

Missourians  were  not  hypocrites,  nor  would  they 
abuse  a  generous  hospitality,  betray  either  public  or 
social  confidence,  or  seek  by  underhanded,  sinister 
means  the  destruction  of  the  rights  of  property  and  the 
guarantees  of  domestic  and  social  order.  However  they 
may  be  characterized  by  ugly  epithets  and  maligned  by 
partisan  hirelings,  they  will  stand  vindicated  on  the 
pages  of  history  as  humane,  generous,  peaceful,  pros- 
porous,  intelligent,  honorable  and  high-minded  citizens, 
who  could  neither  perpetrate  a  mean  act  nor  tolerate, 
even  in  so-called  ministers  of  the  gospel,  the  abuse  of 
confidence  or  domestic  treachery. 

In  illustration  of  the  abuse  of  hospitality  to  secret 
abolition  purposes,  one  instance  in  a  thousand  must 
suffice. 

In  the  spring  of  1856  Mr.  Thomas  E.  Thompson,  of 
Palmyra,  Mo.,  was  returning  home  late  on  Saturday 
evening,  when  he  found  a  stranger  by  the  road  side 
preparing  to  camp  in  a  corner  of  the  fence,  with  his  wife 
and  child.  He  had  unharnessed  his  team  and  stretched 
his  wagon  cloth  on  the  fence  over  them  for  a  shelter 
from  the  inclement  weather. 

Mr.  Thompson  stopped  and  inquired  why  the  stranger 
did  not  go  into  the  city  and  obtain  better  accommoda 
tions;  and  when  informed  that  he  had  no  money,  and 
thought  of  spending  not  only  the  night  but  the  follow- 


96  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

ing  Sabbath  there,  and  that  the  stranger  was  a  Northern 
Methodist  preacher  trying  to  get  to  Kansas,  he  told  him 
it  would  not  do,  invited  them  to  his  house,  and  offered 
them  a  generous  hospitality,  which  was  accepted.  The 
child  had  never  seen  negroes,  was  much  alarmed  at  the 
sight,  and  would  not  remain  in  their  presence. 

During  the  night  the  preacher  got  to  talking  to  one 
of  the  colored  women,  tried  to  persuade  her  that  she 
was  free,  and  that  he  would  assist  her  to  reach  Illinois. 
She  reported  the  facts  to  Mr.  T. ;  and  on  Sabbath  after 
noon  he  overheard  the  preacher  talking  with  the  hus 
band  of  this  woman  in  the  stable,  telling  him  that  he 
was  not  only  a  free  man,  but  that  he  would  do  right  in 
taking  Mr.  T/s  horse,  or  anything  else  by  which  lie 
could  gain  his  freedom.  The  negro  told  the  preacher 
to  go  off  and  let  him  alone,  that  he  had  a  good  master, 
a  good  home  and  everything  in  plenty,  and  he  did  not 
want  to  be  free.  Mr.  Thompson  ordered  the  preacher 
to  leave,  telling  him  that  he  could  not  protect  him  from 
violence  if  the  community  were  apprised  of  the  facts. 
He  let  him  depart  in  peace. 

If  Northern  Methodist  preachers  were  condemned, 
it  was  not  for  preaching  the  gospel  and  trying  to 
save  the  souls  of  men,  but  for  a  palpable  violation  of 
plighted  ecclesiastical  faith,  and  more  particularly  for 
their  partisan  services  in  the  cause  of  emancipation. 

Let  it  be  understood,  also,  that  Missourians  did  not 
so  much  oppose  the  emancipation  of  their  slaves  as  they 
did  the  means  used  to  accomplish  it.  For  thousands  of 
slaveholders  believed  that  the  abolition  of  slavery 
would  be  a  blessing  both  to  the  slave  and  the  master, 
if  it  could  be  done  in  a  lawful  and  peaceable  way.  Many 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  97 

of  them  were  laboring  to  reach  the  result  through  a 
political  organization,  by  open-handed,  lawful  means. 

For  ten  years  before  the  war  it  was  a  foregone  con 
clusion  with  the  more  intelligent  classes  that  slavery 
would  be  abolished  in  Missouri,  and  a  system  of  free  labor 
adopted  that  would  be  more  successful  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  State.  But  they  looked  for  it  to  be 
done  by  a  change  of  the  Constitution  and  the  necessary 
legislation;  and,  while  they  expected  this  result  to  be 
reached  in  a  lawful  way,  they  heartily  detested  the 
secret  organizations  and  treacherous  agents  that  were 
seeking  to  decoy  the  slave  from  his  master,  and  furnish 
facilities  for  his  escape  from  bondage,  and  his  protection 
from  the  legal  claims  of  his  owner. 

This  was  against  law,  in  contravention  of  law,  and  in 
flagrant  violation  of  constitutional  guaranties,  which  all 
the  courts  and  officers  of  the  country  were  sworn  to 
protect  and  enforce ;  and  hence  it  was  considered  by 
the  people  and  the  courts — by  the  law  and  the  gospel — 
a  crime  against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State.  But 
it  was  one  of  those  crimes  which  either  could  not  be 
covered  by  statutory  enactments,  or  in  the  commission 
of  which  the  statute  could  be  evaded  or  the  guilty  party 
concealed. 

Legal  processes  could  not  be  served;  the  law  could 
be  set  at  defiance  while  the  mischief  was  being  done; 
and  the  only  recourse  left  to  the  people  was  in  such 
protection  as  they  could  devise  outside  of  the  law. 
Some  carried  their  slaves  into  the  Southern  States  and 
disposed  of  them.  And  in  some  communities,  where 
forbearance  with  these  disturbers  of  domestic  tran 
quillity  had  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  the  citizens  assembled 


98  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

together  in  a  peaceable  and  lawful  way,  interchanged 
views,  and  devised  the  only  lawful  means  left  them  to 
protect  themselves  and  secure  the  public  peace.  They 
adopted  resolutions,  stating  publicly  and  openly  their 
grievances,  and  warning  the  abolition  emissaries  to 
desist  from  intermeddling  with  their  property  and  their 
rights,  and  if  they  could  not  settle  down  and  become 
peaceable,  law-abiding  citizens,  then  to  leave  the  country 
for  the  country's  good.  In  a  few  counties  of  the  State 
these  public  meetings  were  held,  and  in  no  instance  was 
there  any  indignities  or  outrages  committed  on  the  per 
son  or  property  of  any  man  by  such  public  assemblies 
or  by  their  authority. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  99 


CHAPTER    VI. 

FROM  1845  TO   1861,  CONTINUED. 

Responsibility  of  Ministers,  Editors  and  Publishers— Perversion  of 
Facts,  a  Double  Guilt— Public  Meetings— Presses  Mobbed—  Fabius 
Township  Meeting  in  1854— Rev.  Mr.  Sellers— Review  of  the  Pre 
amble  and  Resolutions — Meeting  at  Rochester,  Andrew  County — 
Three  Facts  Affirmed  of  these  Meetings— The  Best  Citizens  Con 
trolled  Them— What' the  Author  of  the  Fabius  Township  Resolu 
tions  Says — Jackson  Seminary  in  Cape  Girardeau  County — The 
Jefferson  City  Land  Company  and  the  Great  Northern  Methodist 
University — The  Transaction  Transparent — Resolution  of  Missouri 
Conference  of  1858 — A.  Bewley — The  True  Facts  in  his  Case — 
That  he  was  Hanged  at  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  not  for  being  a  Minister 
of  the  Gospel,  but  for  Complicity  in  the  most  Horrible  Crimes — 
The  Facts  Analyzed— The  Bailey  Letter— Bishop  Morris— Dr. 
Elliott— Truth  is'Mighty— Correct  View  of  the  Relation  of  the  M. 
E.  Church  to  the  People  of  Missouri  prior  to  the  War. 

When  historical  facts  are  perverted,  or  so  detached 
from  each  other  as  to  destroy  their  connection,  and  false 
impressions  are  made  thereby,  and  bad  feelings  created 
in  the  interest  of  designing  men,  the  moral  wrong  is 
twofold,  and  the  perpetrators  are  doubly  guilty — false 
hood  reaches  its  result  on  the  credit  of  truth,  and 
Christ,  the  truth,  is  fatally  wounded  in  the  house  of  his 
friends.  Ministers  of  the  gospel,  editors  and  publishers 
are  accountable  to  men  and  God  for  the  most  potent  of 
all  responsibility.  They  are  a  savor  of  life  or  a  savor 
of  death,  and  through  them  peoples  and  countries  have 
peace  or  war. 

The  uses  made  by  them  of  the  public  meetings  of 
•citizens  held  in  various  parts  of  this  State  prior  to  the 
war  did  much  to  aggravate  the  spirit  of  animosity  be- 


100  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

tween  the  Northern  and  Southern  people  in  Missouri, 
and  to  embitter  the  scenes  of  war.  Some  papers  were 
so  severe  upon  certain  classes  of  citizens  as  to  provoke 
mob  violence,  when  party  feeling  was  at  blood  heat, 
and  a  few  printing  offices  were  visited  by  an  insulted 
populace,  and  type,  press,  cases  and  fixtures  thrown  into 
the  streets,  or  made  to  settle  accounts  at  the  bottom  of 
the  river,  while  the  editors  and  publishers  were  driven 
off.  Public  meetings  were  called  in  many  places  by  the 
best  citizens,  to  prevent  mob  violence  and  promote  the 
public  tranquillity.  This  was  their  object. 

Much  has  been  said  in  the  Northern  press  and  pulpit 
about  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of  Fabius  Township, 
Marion  county,  Mo.,  held  February  18,  1854,  just  after 
fifteen  slaves  had  walked  off  to  Canada  from  that  town 
ship.  It  was  alleged  by  these  preachers  and  papers, 
and  the  statement  is  reiterated  by  Dr.  C.  Elliott,  in  his 
book  called  "  Southwestern  Methodism/'  that  the  said 
"meeting  was  held  by  the  citizens  of  Fabius  Township 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  a  scheme  to  expel  Rev. 
Mr.  Sellers,  a  minister  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  from  the 
country" — p.  39;  and  a  great  hue  and  cry  was  raised 
over  the  persecution  of  this  Mr.  Sellers  by  the  aforesaid 
citizens.  And  all  the  cheap  capital  was  made  out  of 
this  heroic  victim  of  pro-slavery  malice  of  which  the 
utmost  torture  of  the  facts  was  capable.  But,  after  all, 
it  is  rather  surprising  to  find  that  neither  in  the  long 
preamble  nor  in  any  one  of  the  five  resolutions  is  the 
name  of  Mr.  Sellers  so  much  as  once  used ;  nor  do  they 
contain  so  much  as  a  personal  allusion  to  him  or  any 
other  individual  man.  They  refer  to  a  class  of  men,  and 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  101 

are  directed  against  a  dozen  others  as  much  as  against 
Mr.  Sellers. 

The  preamble  sets  forth,  amongst  other  things,  as 
follows:  "And,  Whereas,  there  is  in  our  community 
considerable  excitement,  arising  from  the  belief  upon 
the  part  of  many  of  our  citizens  that  the  ministers  of 
the  Northern  division  of  said  Church,  who  have  for 
some  time  past  been  preaching  in  Fabius  Township,  are 
the  representatives  of  a  body  whose  sentiments  upon 
the  subject  of  slavery  are  decidedly  hostile  to  our  in 
terests  as  slaveholders  and  dangerous  to  our  peace ;  and 
that  the  leading  object  of  their  mission  here  is  the 
destruction  of  slavery  by  the  propagation — in  any  man 
ner  not  inconsistent  with  the  safety  of  their  persons — 
of 'doctrines  calculated  to  array  against  the  institution 
the  weak-minded  and  fanatical  among  us,  and  to  create 
discontent,  dissatisfaction  and  insubordination  among 
our  slaves  ;  therefore,"  &c. 

No  one  will  doubt  that  these  utterances  were  directed 
against  the  Northern  Methodist  preachers  as  political 
partisans,  and  not  as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  that 
the  cry  of  persecution  for  righteousness'  sake  failed  of 
its  sympathy  where  it  failed  of  the  truth. 

The  first  resolution  advises  these  men  to  "desist  from 
visiting  and  preaching  among  us." 

The  second  is  a  declaration  of  rights,  and  amongst 
them  the  following:  "When  the  law  fails  to  protect, 
we  claim  to  have  the  natural  right,  as  a  community,  to 
resort  to  the  use  of  such  means  as  will  afford  us  pro 
tection." 

The  third  affirms  that  "Northern  fanatics  have  forced 
the  question  of  slavery  into  all  the  churches,"  and 


102  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

claim8  protection  under  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
"United  States  government  for  the  institution  of  slavery 
thus  endangered. 

The  fourth  affirms  the  unity  of  Methodist  doctrine 
and  worship,  the  validity  of  the  Plan  of  Separation, 
and  "  protests  against  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  sending 
ministers  among  us,  and  respectfully  requests  such 
ministers  to  make  no  more  appointments  in  this 
vicinity." 

The  fifth  is  as  follows  :  "  That,  as  we  are  situated  con 
tiguous  to  Quincy,  a  city  containing  some  of  the  vilest 
abolition  thieves  in  the  Mississippi  Yalley,  and  as  we 
have  already  suifered  so  much  at  the  hands  of  these  in 
cendiaries  we  regard  it  as  absolutely  necessary  to  the 
protection  of  our  slave  interests  that  wo  close  our  doors 
against  abolition  and  free-soil  influences  of  every 
character  and  shade,  and  that  we  shall,  therefore,  esteem 
it  highly  improper  for  any  citizen  hereafter  to  counten 
ance  or  encourage  the  preaching  or  teaching  in  this 
community  of  any  other  minister  or  teacher,  person  or 
persons,  the  representatives  of,  or  in  any  way  con 
nected  with,  any  church  or  churches,  any  association  or 
society,  whether  religious  or  political,  or  of  any  char 
acter  whatsoever,  who  have  heretofore  or  shall  here 
after  take  ground,  directly  or  indirectly,  expressly  or 
impliedly,  against  the  institution  of  slavery." 

That  resolution  is  both  special  and  general.  It  may 
apply  to  Mr.  Sellers,  and  it  may  apply  to  Dr.  Elliott, 
and  a  hundred  others,  as  abolitionists  and  not  ministers, 
or  as  abolitionists  and  ministers. 

A  similar  meeting  was  held  in  Rochester,  Andrew 
county,  in  June,  1856,  at  which  resolutions  of  a  similar 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  103 

character  were  passed.  In  a  few  other  places,  too,  the 
people  assembled  peaceably  and  expressed  their  disap 
probation  of  their  course  and  asked  them  to  desist. 
But  whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary  in  partisan 
publications,  the  page  of  unerring  history  will  affirm 
three  facts  of  the  people  of  Missouri  in  these  meetings : 

1.  That  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  as  such,  had  nothing 
whatever  to   do  with    them ;    while    her   members,   as 
citizens,  were  only  equally  interested  and  implicated  in 
them  with  the  members  of  other  churches. 

2.  "Whenever  these  meetings  denounced  the  preach 
ers  of  the  M.  E.   Church,  North,  it   was  not  because 
they  were  ministers  of  the    gospel,  as    such,   but   be 
cause   they  abused  the  privileges  of  their   profession, 
and  were  secret,  active  political  partisans  and  abolition 
emissaries. 

3.  Mob    violence    was    never    instigated   by   these 
meetings,  but  prevented.     No  man  suffered  in  person 
or  property  from  them  in  Missouri. 

In  confirmation  of  this  position  it  is  only  necessary 
to  state  the  fact  that  the  best  class  of  citizens  were  the 
prime  movers  in  these  public  meeting,  and,  indeed,  they 
were  only  called  when  it  became  apparent  that  the 
peace  and  safety  of  the  community  demanded  it;  for 
in  every  community  there  are  passionate,  reckless  men, 
who  are  ready  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands 
and  vindicate  their  rights,  at  whatever  danger  to  the 
public  safety.  But  the  best  men  of  the  country,  and 
those  who  had  the  deepest  interest  in  its  peace  and 
security,  entered  the  most  heartily  into  these  meetings, 
as  peace  measures,  and  they  now,  and  will  ever,  believe 


104  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

that    such    meetings   were   necessary  to   prevent   mob 
violence  and  insure  the  general  tranquillity. 

The  author  of  the  Fabius  Township  resolutions,  a 
distinguished  citizen  and  lawyer  of  Marion  county,  and 
a  colonel  commanding  a  regiment  of  Missouri  Militia 
in  the  Union  army  during  the  war,  not  only  authorizes 
the  above  statement,  but  affirms  freely  that,  though  he 
had  been  an  anti-slavery  man  for  many  years,  and 
rejoices  in  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  as  he  does  in 
the  restoration  of  the  Union,  yet  he  endorses  that 
meeting  and  those  resolutions  to-day,  and  would  con 
scientiously  pursue  the  same  course  again  should  a 
similar  state  of  things  exist  in  the  community  to  de 
mand  it.  An  old  citizen  of  Missouri,  a  member  of  no 
church — friendly  to  all — a  Union  man  from  first  to  last, 
speaking,  working  and  fighting  to  restore  and  preserve 
the  supremacy  of  the  Federal  government,  he  would 
make  affidavit  to-day  that,  to  the  best  of  his  know 
ledge,  the  three  facts  above  stated  are  fully  vindicated 
in  the  Fabius  Township  and  all  similar  meetings  held 
for  similar  purposes  in  Missouri.  Thousands  of  the 
best  citizens  of  the  State  are  ready  to  affirm  the  same 
facts  and  vindicate  the  good  people  of  Missouri  against 
the  aspersions  of  the  Northern  press. 

Similar  meetings  to  that  of  Fabius  township  were 
held  in  Andrew  county,  in  Independence,  Jackson 
county,  in  Cass  county,  and  perhaps  other  places,  and 
with  similar  results.  In  no  single  instance  was  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  implicated.  In  no  single  instance 
were  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  mobbed 
or  murdered,  and  in  no  single  instance  was  mob 
violence  against  the  "  vilest  abolition  thieves  "  coun- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  105 

seled  or  countenanced;  and  with  all  honest  people 
who  know  the  facts  the  hue  and  cry  raised  in  certain 
quarters  about  religious  intolerance,  mob  violence,  per 
secution  of  ministers,  and  the  martyrdom  of  innocent 
and  holy  men  is  as  gratuitous  as  it  is  contemptible. 

When  the  lower  House  of  the  Missouri  Legislature, 
in  February,  1855,  refused,  by  a  vote  of  sixty  to  thirty- 
six,  to  charter  what  was  called  the  Jackson  Seminary, 
in  Cape  Girardeau  county,  for  the  Northern  Methodists, 
it  was  not  because  the  representatives  of  the  people 
opposed  the  establishment  of  literary  institutions,  or 
wished  to  proscribe  any  form  of  religion,  but  because, 
as  then  stated,  the  Northern  Methodist  preachers  were 
the  emissaries  of  abolitionism,  and  by  encouraging 
them  in  establishing  institutions  in  Missouri  they 
encouraged  their  purposes  and  organization  to  subvert 
the  lawful  institutions  of  the  State,  which  the  law 
makers  did  not  hesitate  to  affirm  would  be  encouraging 
a  cowardly,  clandestine  treason  against  the  laws  and 
government  of  the  State.  Four  years  later  the  Legis 
lature  refused  to  charter  a  university  at  Jefferson  City 
for  the  Northern  Methodists,  for  the  same  reason. 

The  "  Jefferson  City  Land  Company/'  to  encourage 
immigration,  build  up  the  city  and  enhance  the  private 
fortunes  of  its  members,  proposed  a  liberal  grant  of 
land  to  the  Northern  Methodists,  or  any  others,  who 
would  build  up  and  endow,  with  foreign  capital,  a  uni 
versity  at  the  State  Capitol.  Though  many  of  the 
members  of  this  Land  Company  were  slaveholders,  and 
some  of  them  large  slaveholders,  they  believed  that  the 
introduction  of  free  labor  into  the  State  would  greatly 
facilitate  the  development  of  her  material  resources, 


106  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

by  building  railroads  and  opening  her  vast  beds  of 
coal,  and  lead,  and  iron  to  the  markets  of  the  world. 
They  conceived  the  idea  of  inviting  and  encouraging 
free  labor  from  the  Northern  States  through  the  active 
agency  of  the  Northern  Methodist  Church. 

The  class  of  immigrants  they  desired  were  opposed 
to  negro  slavery,  and  the  Northern  Methodist  Church 
was  opposed  to  negro  slavery.  Methodist  ministers, 
more  than  any  other  ministers,  were  in  sympathy  with 
the  anti-slavery  surplus  populations  of  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  States,  and  could  influence  them  more. 
Hence  the  alliance. 

The  proposition  to  donate  so  much  land  for  a  uni 
versity,  even  at  a  fictitious  value,  was  a  splendid  prize 
for  that  church  in  Missouri,  backed,  as  it  was,  by  the 
names  and  influence  of  some  of  the  first  men  of  the 
State,  and  located  at  the  seat  of  political  power — the 
State  Capitol. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  promise  of  the  most  extensive 
and  efficient  agency  in  the  world  actively  working 
throughout  the  dense  populations  of  the  older  States  to 
put  into  operation  a  system  of  emigration  that  would 
fill  up  the  State  with  industrious  laborers,  absorb  the 
surplus  lands  and  enrich  the  centers  of  settlement, 
was  a  tempting  premium  upon  the  cupidity  of  the 
"  Jefferson  City  Land  Company/'  for  which  they  could 
afford  to  give  up  their  slaves  and  their  former  principles. 

The  inevitable  logic  of  facts  does  not  compliment 
either  the  benevolence  of  the  Land  Company  or  the 
religion  of  the  Church.  The  members  of  the  Land 
Company  may  have  been  anti-slavery  from  principle, 
and  their  benevolent  donation  may  have  been  unselfish 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  107 

if  so,  they  were  unfortunate  in  their  schemes;  if  not  so, 
they  were  unskilled  in  dissimulation. 

They  succeeded  in  this  much,  at  least,  in  making  the 
impression  pretty  general  that  their  creed  was  a 
policy,  and  their  policy  was  simply  a  question  of  loss 
and  gain.  Not  that  they  loved  slavery  less,  but  that 
they  loved  money  more;  not  that  they  loved  the 
Northern  Methodist  Church  more,  but  that  they  could 
use  that  Church  better :  while  the  success  of  the  other 
party  resolved  itself  into  a  question  of  deception ;  either 
deceiving  themselves  or  deceiving  others  —  possibly 
both. 

Eesiding  in  Jefferson  City  at  the  time,  and  being 
personally  acquainted  with  each  member  of  the  Land 
Company,  as  well  as  cognizant  of  all  the  facts,  the 
author  feels  justified  in  thus  making  transparent  the 
shrewd  scheme  about  which  so  much  was  said  at  the 
time.  The  only  motive  for  this  expose  is  a  vindication 
of  the  truth  of  history  and  an  analysis  of  the  spirit  of 
the  times  before  the  war. 

After  the  failure  of  the  "  Jefferson  City  Land  Com 
pany  "  and  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  to  build  up  a 
Cambridge  or  a  Harvard  at  the  State  Capitol  the  Land 
Company  subsided,  and  the  Church  directed  attention 
to  other  expedients  and  sought  a  footing  in  Missouri 
through  other  agencies.  Public  sentiment  was  against 
them;  political  prejudices  and  social  barriers  denied 
them  access  to  the  people.  All  other  religious  denom 
inations  were  unfriendly  to  them;  their  best  preachers 
left  them,  and  either  went  into  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
or  returned  home.  The  better  class  of  Northern  immi- 


108  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

grants,  even  from  their  own  Church  at  home,  found  it 
to  their  interest  to  seek  other  church  connections. 

A  suspicion  followed  them  into  the  domestic,  the 
social  and  the  business  relations  of  life,  which  mani 
fested  too  clearly  the  instinctive  sense  of  moral  justice 
and  religious  fidelity  in  the  public  mind  to  be  either 
mistaken  or  escaped  by  them  as  covenant  breakers,  false 
accusers  and  clandestine  enemies  to  the  property  and 
peace  of  the  State.  It  was  natural  for  them  under 
such  circumstances  to  long  for  redress,  and  gladly  em 
brace  and  use  every  means  in  their  power  to  effect  their 
purpose.  They  had  a  lively  conception  of  the  horrors 
of  slavery,  and  more  skill  than  conscience  in  magnify 
ing  them  for  the  .Northern  press  and  the  Northern 
public.  By  this  means  the  Northern  mind  was  misled, 
and  many  a  victim  of  their  misrepresentations  was 
undeceived  only  on  coming  to  Missouri  and  seeing  for 
himself  the  system  of  slavery,  not  as  it  existed  in  a 
blinded  imagination,  but  as  it  existed  in  the  homes  and 
on  the  farms  of  slaveholders ;  and  abandoning  their  de 
ceivers,  they  vindicated  both  the  system  and  the  people 
from  the  false  impeachment  of  unscrupulous  fanatics. 
This  made  against  them  and  exasperated  them,  and 
when  they  found  that  they  were  not  sufficiently  suc 
cessful  in  deceiving  the  public  mind  to  secure  even  the 
letters  with  their  bearers  from  their  own  Church  in  the 
Free  States,  the  Missouri  Conference,  in  1858,  uttered 
complaint  in  the  following  resolution  : 

"Resolved,  That  we  hereby  earnestly  and  affection 
ately  request  our  brethren  of  other  Conferences,  in 
dismissing  from  their  charges,  by  letter,  members  who 
intend  immigrating  to  Missouri,  that  they  be  at  pains  to 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  109 

inform  them  that,  under  the  blessing  of  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  this 
State  is  living  and  thriving,  and  urge  upon  them  the 
propriety  of  attaching  themselves  to  our  Church  here 
immediately  on  their  arrival/' 

Several  Quarterly  Conferences  took  action  on  the 
subject,  and  set  forth  more  fully  the  grounds  of  com 
plaint,  which  even  Dr.  Elliott  could  not  escape  or  over 
look  in  his  "Southwestern  Methodism." 

Perhaps  no  event  in  the  history  of  those  times 
furnished  them  more  food  for  comment  and  capital  than 
the  hanging  of  the  Rev.  Anthony  Bewley  by  the  citi 
zens  of  Fort  Worth,  Texas,  in  September,  1860.  Out 
of  this  event  the  strongest  system  of  falsehood  was 
manufactured  by  designing  men  to  fire  the  Northern 
Methodist  heart  against  the  Southern  people,  especially 
the  Southern  Methodists. 

It  was  at  a  time  when  the  country  was  convulsed 
with  political  excitement  from  one  end  to  the  other, 
and  partisan  politics,  more  or  less,  colored  every  report 
of  the  affair.  It  was  almost  impossible  at  the  time  to 
get  a  true  history  of  the  event,  as  the  most  extravagant 
statements  were  put  in  circulation  to  influence  the 
Presidential  election  the  following  November.  The 
reports  in  the  papers  made  at  the  time,  and  under  the 
pressure  of  the  most  exciting  and  embittered  political 
campaign  known  to  the  history  of  this  country,  must 
be  received  with  great  allowance  and  heavy  discount. 
After  the  heat  of  political  excitement,  when  every 
ballot  stood  for  a  thousand  bullets,  and  the  fire  and 
blood  of  the  civil  war  that  followed  have  all  passed 
away,  when  passion  and  prejudice  can  no  longer  serve 


110  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

the  purposes  of  party,  the  following  facts  appear  upon 
the  surface  and  bear  the  imperial  image  and  superscrip 
tion  of  truth : 

1.  That  the  Eev.  Anthony  Bewley,  a  minister  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  North,  was  hung  at  Fort  Worth,  Texas, 
September,  1860. 

2.  That  the  said  Bewley  had  been  living  in  Texas  but 
a  short  time,  operating  when  he  could  as  a  minister  of 
his  Church,   but  connected  with   an  extensive  secret 
organization  for  the  purpose  of  freeing  the  slaves,  at 
whatever  risk  to  the  peace,  the  property,  and  the  lives 
of  citizens. 

3.  That  he  was   implicated   in  a  nefarious   plot  to 
poison   wells,   fire  towns   and   residences,  and,  in  the 
midst  of  conflagrations  and  death,  to  run  off  the  slaves. 
This  fact  rests  upon  much  oral  and  documentary  evi 
dence. 

4.  That  a  Yigilance   Committee  had  been  formed  to 
ferret  out  the  plot,  capture  the  guilty  parties  and  bring 
them  to  justice. 

5.  That  this  Committee  had  cause  to  suspect  Mr. 
Bewley,    ascertaining  which  he  fled  the  country  and 
made  his  way  to  Missouri,  whither  he  was  pursued  by 
them,  captured,  and  taken  back  to  Fort  Worth. 

6.  That  the  evidence  was  so  strong  against  him  that 
neither  the  Yigilance  Committee  nor  the  officers  of  the 
law  could  protect  him  from  the  outraged  and  enraged 
populace,  and  about  midnight  he  was  taken  by  force 
and  hung. 

7.  That  if  there  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  on  the  Yigilance  Committee,  or  in  the  mob  that 
hung  him,  the  evidence  does  not  appear. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  Ill 

8.  Neither  the  extremest  torture  of  facts  nor  the  most 
distorted  construction  of  collateral  circumstances  can 
implicate  Bishop  Pierce,  or  any  other  Bishop,  minister, 
or  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  as  such,  in  the 
murder  of  Bewley. 

9.  "With  all  due  respect  to  the  character  of  the  North 
ern  Methodist  publications  of  this  affair,  and  to  Dr. 
Elliott  in  his  "Southwestern  Methodism"  in  particular, 
it  may  be  asked  with  some  degree  of  consistency,  "  Was 
Bishop  Ames  Bewley's  hangman  ?"     Bishops  Janes  and 
Ames    are   responsible    for   Bewley's    appointment   to 
Texas;  the  latter  for  his  re-appointment,  after  Bewley 
had  made  him   acquainted  with  all  the   facts  existing 
there  that  would  prevent  his  usefulness  and  endanger 
his  life.     The  Bishop   sent  him  upon  a  missionary  ap 
propriation  of  $400,  for  which  he  pledged  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Church.     Bewley  and  Willet  were  sent 
to  the  Nueces   country  with   specific  instructions   "not 
to  organize  societies  next  summer,  but  to  correspond 
with  the  Missionary  Board." 

10.  The  evidence  upon  which  he  stood  convicted  in 
the  public  mind  of  complicity  in  the  bloody  plot  to 
poison  wells,  burn  towns,  and,  through  fire   and  blood 
and  insurrection,  free  the  slaves,  convicted  others  also, 
who  were   not  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church.     It  can 
not  be  made  to  appear,  therefore,  by  any  legitimate 
construction,  that  he  suffered  because  he  was  a  minister 
of  that  Church,  but  because  he  was  a  ringleader  in  the 
clandestine  scheme  of  fire  and  murder,  that  was  too 
diabolical  to  discriminate  even  in  favor  of  women  and 
children,  but  doomed  all  indiscriminately  who  might 
drink  of  the  wells,  or  be  the  victims  of  midnight  con- 


112  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

flagrations,  or  in  any  way  be  exposed  to  the  wide-spread 
negro  insurrection  thus  instigated.  For  this  cause,  and 
not  for  preaching  the  gospel,  he  was  hanged. 

11.  The  following  letter,  written  by  one  Eev.  W.  H. 
Bailey,  addressed  to  Kev.  A.  Bewley,  and  acknowledged 
by  him  to  have  been  received  and  subsequently  lost, 
was  the  principal  evidence  upon  which  he  was  convicted. 
Bewley  acknowledged  to  his  brother-in-law,  Mr.  John 
Cook,  that  the  letter  was  genuine,  and  had  been  re 
ceived  by  him  and  lost.  The  letter  was  dated,  "Denton 
Creek,  Texas,  July  3,  1860,"  and  was  found  by  the 
Yigilance  Committee,  authenticated,  and  extensively 
published  by  the  secular  and  religious  papers  of  the 
country,  and  is  as  follows : 

"DENTON  CREEK,  July  3,  1860. 

"Dear  Sir :  A  painful  abscess  in  my  right  thumb  is  my 
apology  for  not  writing  to  you  from  Anderson.  Our 
glorious  cause  is  prospering  finely  as  far  South  as  Bren- 
ham.  There  I  parted  with  Brother  Wampler  -}  he  went 
still  further  South.  He  will  do  good  wherever  he  goes. 
I  traveled  up  through  the  frontier  counties — a  part  of 
the  time  under  a  fictitious  name.  I  found  many  friends 
who  had  been  initiated,  and  understood  the  mystic  Red. 
I  met  a  number  of  our  friends  near  Georgetown.  We 
had  a  consultation,  and  were  unanimously  of  the  opinion 
that  we  should  be  cautious  of  our  new  associates ;  most 
of  them  are  desperate  characters,  and  may  betray  us,  as 
there  are  some  slaveholders  among  them,  and  they 
value  the  poor  negro  much  higher  than  horses.  The 
only  good  they  will  do  us  will  be  destroying  towns, 
mills,  &c.,  which  is  our  only  hope  in  Texas  at  present. 
If  we  can  break  Southern  merchants  and  millers,  and 


MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI.  113 

have  their  places  filled  by  honest  Bepublicans,  Texas 
will  be  an  easy  prey,  if  we  only  do  our  duty.  All  that 
is  wanted  for  the  time  being  is  control  of  trade.  Trade, 
assisted  by  preaching  and  teaching,  will  soon  control 
public  opinion.  Public  opinion  is  mighty  and  will 
prevail.  Lincoln  will  certainly  be  elected;  we  will 
then  have  the  Indian  nation,  cost  what  it  will ;  squatter 
sovereignty  will  prevail  there  as  it  has  in  Kansas.  That 
accomplished,  we  have  but  one  more  step  to  take — one 
more  struggle  to  make — that  is,  free  Texas.  We  will 
then  have  a  connected  link  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Gulf. 
Slavery  will  then  be  surrounded,  by  land  and  water, 
and  will  soon  sting  itself  to  death. 

"  I  repeat,  Texas  we  must  have,  and  our  only  chance 
is  to  break  up  the  present  inhabitants — in  whatever 
way  we  can — and  it  must  be  done.  Some  of  us  will  most 
assuredly  suffer  in  accomplishing  our  object,  but  our 
Heavenly  Father  will  reward  us  in  assisting  him  in 
blotting  out  the  greatest  curse  on  earth.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  do  an  act  that  is  as  blasphemous  in 
the  sight  of  God  as  slaveholding. 

"We  must  have  frequent  consultations  with  our  colored 
friends.  (Let  our  meetings  be  in  the  night.)  Impress 
upon  their  clouded  intellects  the  blessings  of  freedom ; 
induce  all  to  leave  you  can.  Our  arrangements  for 
their  accommodations  to  go  North  are  better  than  they 
have  been,  but  not  as  good  as  I  would  like. 

"  We  need  more  agents,  both  local  and  traveling.  I 
will  send  out  traveling  agents  when  I  get  home.  We 
must  appoint  a  local  agent  in  every  neighborhood  in 
your  district.  I  will  recommend  a  few  I  know  it  will 
do  to  rely  upon — namely,  Brothers  Leak,  Wood,  Evans, 


114  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

Mr.  Daniel  Yicry,  Cole,  Nugent,  Shaw,  White,  Gilford, 
Ashley,  Drake,  Meeks,  Shultz  and  Newman.  Brother 
Leak,  the  bearer  of  this,  will  take  a  circuitous  route  and 
see  as  many  of  our  colored  friends  as  he  can.  He  also 
recommends  a  different  material  to  be  used  about  town, 
etc.  Our  friends  sent  a  very  inferior  article — they 
emit  too  much  smoke,  and  do  not  contain  enough 
camphene.  They  are  calculated  to  get  some  of  our 
friends  hurt.  I  will  send  a  supply  when  I  get  home. 

"  I  will  have  to  reprove  you  and  your  co-workers  for 
your  negligence  in  sending  funds  for  our  agents.  But 
few  have  been  compensated  for  their  trouble.  Our 
faithful  correspondent,  Brother  Webber,  has  received 
but  a  trifle — not  so  much  as  apprentice's  wages ;  neither 
have  Brothers  Willet,  Mungum  and  others.  You  must 
call  upon  our  colored  friends  for  more  money.  They 
must  not  expect  us  to  do  all.  They  certainly  will  give 
every  cent  if  they  knew  how  soon  their  shackles  will 
be  broken.  My  hand  is  very  painful,  and  I  close. 

" Yours  truly,  W.  H.  BAILEY/' 

Should  any  one  be  tempted  to  doubt  the  genuineness 
of  this  letter,  his  attention  is  directed  to  what  critics 
call  internal  evidence,  to  the  testimony  of  witnesses  on 
the  spot,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  Bewley  himself 
to  Mr.  Cook,  his  brother-in-law,  and  others. 

The  disclosure  of  such  a  diabolical  plot,  to  be  executed 
simultaneously  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  with  these 
preachers  and  others  in  secret  league  and  clandestine 
confederation,  extending,  perhaps,  all  over  the  South, 
and  involving  a  negro  insurrection  with  all  the  horrible 
crimes  of  St.  Domingo  intensified  and  aggravated  a 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  115 

thousandfold,  could  not  fail  to  enrage  the  populace  and 
fire  the  passions  of  men  to  an  uncontrollable  point. 

Upon  such  provocation  Bewley  and  Bailey  were  both 
hung.  And  with  all  the  efforts  made  to  hold  the 
Southern  Methodist  papers,  Bishops  and  members  re 
sponsible  for  the  crime,  no  papers  and  no  men  more 
deeply  regretted  and  more  heartily  condemned  the  act. 

How  the  venerable  Bishop  Morris,  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  could  write — "One  of  our  godly  and  inoffensive 
ministers,  A.  Bewley,  was  hung  by  a  Texan  mob,  for 
no  other  crime  but  connection  with  the  Methodist  Epis 
copal  Church,"  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  unless  we 
assume  that  he  was  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  facts. 
Surely  the  good  Bishop  would  not  suffer  his  prejudices 
to  blind  him  to  the  true  state  of  things  as  they  will  ever 
stand  out  in  the  history  of  that  deplorable  event. 

Dr.  Elliott  says:  "Mr.  Bewley  was  suspended  upon 
the  same  limb  and  tree  upon  which  several  negroes  and 
a  Northern  man  named  Crawford  had  been  hung." 
Were  these  negroes  and  this  "Northern  man  named 
Crawford "  hung  "  for  no  other  crime  but  connection 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  1"  and  yet,  so  far 
as  the  facts  appear,  they  were  hanged  for  the  same 
crime  of  which  that  "godly  and  inoffensive  minister,  A. 
Bewley,"  was  convicted. 

"We  could  excuse  the  above  declaration  from  the  pen 
of  Dr.  Cartwright  or  Dr.  Elliott ;  we  could  palliate  it 
somewhat  had  it  come  from  Bishop  Ames;  but  from 
Bishop  Morris !  the  astonishment  can  scarcely  surpass 
the  mortification. 

"Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail;"  and  from  all 
the  rubbish  of  falsehood  and  all  the  coloring  of  distorted 


116  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

facts  the  true  history  of  this  event  will  finally  reach 
posterity,  and  vindicate  Southern  Methodism  of  every 
aspersion  made  by  a  subsidized  press,  and  tear  the 
martyr's  crown  from  the  victim  who  expiated  his  crimes 
upon  "the  Crawford  limb." 

This  whole  chapter  will  furnish  the  reader  with  a 
correct  view  of  the  relation  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North, 
to  the  people,  the  property,  the  laws  and  the  institutions 
of  the  State  between  the  division  of  the  Church,  in  1844, 
and  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  in  1861.  But  this 
is  subordinate  to  the  prime  object,  which  is  to  show,  at 
least,  one  reason  for  the  conspicuous  and  efficient  agency 
of  Northern  Methodist  preachers  in  the  vindictive  per 
secution  of  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
the  seizure  and  use  of  Church  property,  etc.,  under  the 
constructive  association  of  the  latter  with  slavery,  seces 
sion,  rebellion,  treason,  &c.,  &c.,  during  the  civil  war. 
A  vindictive  spirit  put  many  of  them  in  Missouri  and  in 
the  army  during  the  war.  "  Vengeance  is  mine  j  I  will 
repay,  saith  the  Lord." 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  117 


CHAPTEE   VII. 

CHARACTER   OF   THE    STRIFE   IN   MISSOURI. 

Conflict  of  Sentiment — Party  Spirit — ISTew  England  and  Missouri 
Fanatics— Fraternal  Blood— "Houses  Divided — Three  against  Two 
and  Two  against  Three" — Organized  Armies  and  Predatory  Brig 
ands—Bull  Eun,  Seven  Pines,  The  Wilderness,  Gettysburg  and 
Vicksburg  Keproduced  on  a  small  scale  in  every  County  and  Cross 
Roads  in  Missouri — War  upon  Non-Combatants — The  Bloodiest 
Records — Ministers  of  the  Gospel — Their  Troubles  and  Perplex 
ities — Peculiar  Trials  and  Persecutions — Military  Fetters  put  upon 
the  Conscience — Disloyal  Prayers  and  Military  'Orders. 

The  mixed  population  of  Missouri,  presenting  such 
diverse  types  of  domestic  and  social  life,  and  such  differ 
ent  casts  of  political  and  religious  belief,  could  not  fail 
to  be  turbulent,  contentious  and  almost  self-destructive 
in  any  civil  revolution.  The  people  were  not  homoge 
neous,  and  could  not  unite  upon  any  principles  or 
policy,  civil  or  ecclesiastical ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  each 
shade  of  political  and  religious  faith  stood  out  upon  the 
face  of  society  sharply  denned,  firmly  set  and  fully 
armed  for  both  offensive  and  defensive  warfare.  Party 
leaders  were  bolder,  party  spirit  ran  higher,  party 
blood  waxed  hotter  and  party  strife  raged  fiercer  than 
in  any  other  State. 

When  the  Northern  fanatics  adopted  a  platform  and 
announced  a  line  of  policy,  the  Missouri  fanatics  of  the 
same  school  would  not  only  fall  into  line,  but  glory  in 
their  excess  of  fanaticism,  and  push  the  extremest 
measures  of  their  Northern  masters  to  the  most  reck 
less  results.  Likewise  the  Southern  fire-eaters,  so- 


118  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

called,  could  always  find  in  Missouri  politicians  the 
champions  of  their  extremest  measures.  Hence  it  was 
a  common  "cant"  saying  among  the  politicians  that 
"when  the  New  England  fanatics  took  snuff  the  Mis 
souri  fanatics  would  sneeze,"  and,  indeed,  some  times 
the  sneezing  was  done  before  the  snuff  was  taken,  and 
in  all  that  was  revolutionary  and  reckless  in  politics 
and  religion  they  could  "out-herod  Herod." 

The  extremists,  North  and  South,  whether  religious 
or  political,  found  the  heartiest  supporters  in  Missouri ; 
and  that  which  brought  the  two  sections  together  in 
organized  warfare  brought  the  citizens  of  the  same 
neighborhood  in  Missouri,  and  even  members  of  the 
same  family,  into  the  sharpest  personal  conflict.  The 
great  battles  of  Bull  Eun,  Fredericksburg,  Yicksburg,  the 
"Wilderness,  Seven  Pines  and  Gettysburg  were  repro 
duced  on  a  limited  scale  in  a  thousand  places  in  Mis 
souri.  The  brush,  the  prairie,  the  glen,  the  road  side 
all  over  the  State  sheltered  concealed  foes,  and  often 
witnessed  the  deadliest  combats  between  neighbors  and 
brothers.  Here  "houses  were  divided,  two  against 
three  and  three  ascainst  two,"  "a  man  was  set  at  vari- 

O  / 

ance  with  his  father,  and  the  daughter  against  her 
mother,  and  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in- 
law,  and  a  man's  foes  were  they  of  his  own  household." 
There  was  in  many  instances  a  literal  fulfillment  of  the 
prediction  that  "  the  brother  shall  deliver  up  the  brother 
to  death,  and  the  father  the  child,  and  the  children 
shall  rise  up  against  their  parents  and  cause  them  to  be 
put  to  death  •"  and  the  spirit  of  contention  was  too  rife 
to  confine  itself  to  the  hostile  armies,  or  even  the  law 
less  bands  of  armed  men,  who,  in  the  name  of  one 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  119 

party  or  the  other,  satiated  their  diabolical  hatred  and 
inordinate  cupidity  by  robbery,  plunder,  pillage  and 
depopulation  with  fire  and  sword. 

It  is  no  marvel  that  the  most  relentless  and  inhuman 
spirit  of  the  war  found  encouragement,  if  not  protec 
tion,  and  expended  its  force  and  fury  upon  the  non- 
combatant  and  helpless  population  of  Missouri ;  for  this 
State  furnished  the  bravest  men  for  the  armies  and  the 
most  dastardly  cowards  for  "home  protection."  While 
her  brave  sons  fought  and  fell  upon  the  fields  of  honor, 
making  the  very  blood  and  death  of  battle  illustrious 
by  an  unchallenged  heroism,  the  warfare  at  home  pre 
sented  scenes  of  outrage  and  horror  unsurpassed  by  any 
thing  in  the  annals  of  civilized  warfare,  if,  indeed,  there 
can  be  such  a  thing  as  civilized  warfare,  for  every 
thing  about  it  is  intensely  savage. 

Between  the  "jayhawkers"  of  Kansas  and  the  "  bush 
whackers  "  of  Missouri  some  whole  counties  were  plun 
dered,  some  were  desolated  by  fire  and  sword,  and  some 
were  almost  depopulated.  Widows'  homes  were  pillaged 
and  burned,  delicate  mothers  and  daughters  were  cap 
tured,  taken  to  camp  and  compelled  to  cook  and  wash 
for  ruffian  bands  of  armed  men,  to  say  nothing  of  name 
less  indignities  and  the  most  horrible  crimes.  Churches 
and  dwellings  were  seized,  converted  into  barracks  for 
soldiers,  stables  for  horses,  and  often  burned  to  the 
ground  in  wanton  destruction. 

It  was  often  heard  in  boast  that  the  track  of  armies, 
or  more  properly  predatory  bands,  should  be  lighted 
through  entire  counties  by  the  glare  of  burning  build 
ings,  and  the  threat  was  too  often  witnessed  in  all  the 
midnight  glare  of  faithful  execution  by  the  pallid  and 


120  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

panic-stricken  old  men,  women  and  children  in  mid 
winter.  But  the  heart  sickens  at  the  recital,  as  the 
enlightened  conscience  revolted  then  at  the  reality. 
These  statements  must  suffice  to  recall  the  scenes  which 
were  enacted  and  the  men  who  educated  and  then  hard 
ened  the  public  conscience  for  the  crimes  committed 
during  the  war,  against  God  and  his  chosen  ministers 
and  church,  and  for  the  subsequent  legislative  proscrip 
tion  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  as  a  class,  and  Christi 
anity  as  an  institution. 

The  attitude  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  Missouri 
toward  the  issues  of  the  war,  and  how  far  they  partici 
pated,  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  in  its  fatal  scenes 
require  notice  here. 

At  the  first,  and,  indeed,  for  two  years  and  more  after 
the  war  commenced,  the  sentiment  of  the  State  was  so 
equally  divided  between  the  contending  sections  that 
ministers  who  did  not  propose  to  forsake  their  high 
calling  and  become  active  participants  in  the  strife  were 
very  cautious  in  their  expressions  of  sympathy.  But  as 
the  Northern  or  Southern  feeling  predominated  in  any 
given  locality  it  became  so  intolerant  as  to  demand 
from  ministers,  as  well  as  all  others,  an  unequivocal 
avowal  of  sentiment,  which  always  subjected  the  minister 
to  the  severest  criticism  and  the  most  unsparing  censure 
when  he  chanced  to  think  differently  from  the  majority. 
The  people  of  opposite  sentiments  denied  him  access  to 
them  for  good,  withdrew  their  encouragement  and  sup 
port,  and  thus  forced  him  either  into  the  army  or  into 
exile.  The  people  were  so  prejudiced  and  intolerant  as 
to  believe  that  a  man  of  opposite  political  faith  was  un 
fitted,  by  that  fact,  to  minister  to  them  in  holy  things 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  121 

— that  sectional  sympathy  disqualified  men  for  the  min 
istry,  and  that  the  men  who  would  preach  Christ  must 
either  dry  up  the  fountains  of  human  sympathy,  sur 
render  all  the  rights  of  citizenship,  or  subordinate  the 
message  of  life  and  salvation  to  the  dictum  of  the  lead 
ers  and  representatives  of  the  intolerant  spirit  of  anti- 
Christ  that  prevailed.  In  this  shape  the  persecution  of 
ministers  of  the  gospel  commenced  in  Missouri  with 
the  first  breaking  out  of  the  war.  Ministers  were 
forced  to  give  up  their  pulpits  and  abandon  their  con 
gregations  where  the  two  were  not  in  sympathy  upon 
the  issues  of  the  war. 

Many  an  old  man  who  had  been  settled  for  years  in 
one  pastoral  charge,  where  his  children  had  grown  up 
and  some  of  them  had  died,  and  where  all  the  tenderest 
and  dearest  associations  known  to  the  sacred  relation 
of  pastor  and  people  had  ripened  and  matured  around 
the  fireside,  in  the  sick  room,  the  funeral  scene,  the 
homes  and  hearts  of  grief,  and  around  the  bridal  and 
sacramental  altars,  suddenly  found  himself  and  his 
family  proscribed,  maligned  and  friendless  in  the  very 
homes  and  hearts  in  which  aforetime  their  pre-eminence 
was  unchallenged.  A  bitter  necessity  forced  him  often 
to  give  up  his  home  and  his  pulpit,  leave  his  flock  in  the 
wilderness  and  seek  protection  and  support  either  in 
the  army  or  among  strangers.  In  this  way  many 
ministers,  old  and  young,  were  driven  to  a  course  which 
they  did  not  elect,  and  forced  into  a  position  which  was 
neither  of  their  own  choosing  nor  consistent  with  their 
sense  of  ministerial  propriety  and  ministerial  obligation. 

And  yet  for  a  position  forced  upon  them  by  the  pre 
scriptive  intolerance  of  their  former  friends  they  were 


122  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

held  responsible,  and  even  severely  censured  by  the 
public. 

Many  went  into  both  armies — not  willingly,  but 
by  constraint — not  of  choice,  but  of  necessity — not  to 
fight  the  living  with  carnal  weapons,  but  to  save  the 
dying  with  the  power  of  salvation,  and  to  fight  the 
battles  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  with  the  spiritual  weapons 
that  are  "  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of 
strongholds." 

Some  ministers  of  the  gospel  entered  the  army  as 
soldiers  to  fight  the  battles  of  the  country,  and  no  doubt 
did  it  conscientiously,  believing  it  to  be  a  high  patriotic 
duty.  They  claimed  nothing  on  the  score  of  their  pro 
fession,  but  accepted  in  good  faith  the  issues  of  war 
and  the  arbitrament  of  the  sword.  Those  who  survived 
the  war  claim  no  undue  credit,  and  those  who  sacrificed 
their  lives  for  a  principle  and  a  cause  deserve  no 
censure. 

Those  who  entered  either  army  voluntarily,  either  as 
chaplains  or  soldiers,  did  it  understandingly  and,  per 
haps,  conscientiously,  and  accepted  the  penalty  or 
reward  due  to  such  a  position  only.  As  a  soldier  the 
preacher  claimed  no  exceptional  privileges,  and  as  a 
preacher  the  soldier  claimed  no  exemption  from  duty 
on  the  field  or  punishment  at  home.  But  it  is  a  notorious 
fact  that  preachers  who  were  in  the  Southern  army  as 
soldiers,  and  who  survived  the  war  and  returned  to 
their  homes  in  Missouri,  no  matter  how  gladly,  grace 
fully  and  loyally  they  accepted  the  situation,  have  not 
met  the  consideration  nor  received  the  treatment  in  all 
cases  meted  out  to  other  Confederate  soldiers ;  nor  have 
preachers  from  the  Union  army  in  all  instances  been 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  123 

treated  as  other  Federal  soldiers  who  returned  from  the 
same  regiments  and  to  the  same  counties.  Charity  at 
least  demands  the  belief  that  this  is  due  rather  to  the 
instinctive  disapprobation  in  the  public  mind  of  minis 
ters  bearing  arms  at  all  than  to  any  studied  malicious 
ness  }  and  the  belief  is  just  as  grateful  as  it  is  warranted 
by  the  facts.  But  if  it  should  fall  out  in  the  subsequent 
facts  to  be  presented  in  this  book  that  a  studied  malice 
and  a  methodical  madness  have  done  more  than  the 
anti-war  sentiment,  then,  however  ungrateful,  we  must 
accept  the  facts  as  the  best  interpretation  of  the  anti- 
christian  spirit  which  has  exhausted  itself  upon  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  in  this  State. 

Under  this  kind  of  pressure  many  pastors  were  with 
out  churches  and  many  churches  without  pastors ;  and, 
in  many  parts  of  the  State,  the  churches  were  disorgan 
ized  and  broken  up,  and  the  flocks  scattered  in  the 
wilderness,  like  sheep  having  no  shepherd.  It  is  true, 
some  ministers  refused  to  be  driven,  but  remained  faith 
ful  to  their  trust,  in  the  midst  of  many  discouragements, 
much  threatening,  much  murmuring,  and  not  a  little 
persecution.  Such  men,  pursuing  the  even  tenor  of 
their  way,  neither  turning  to  the  right  or  left,  reviled, 
but  reviling  not  again,  "  counting  not  their  lives  dear 
unto  themselves,"  nor  "conferring  with  flesh  and  blood/' 
deserve  the  most  honorable  mention ;  and  with  those 
who  know  the  pressure  of  sentiment  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  they  will  ever  be  revered  as  the  finest  models 
of  moral  heroism  and  ministerial  fidelity.  This  class 
of  men  were  not  confined  to  any  one  church,  but  have 
their  representatives  in  all  the  churches  which,  by  con 
struction,  were  considered  unfriendly  to  the  ruling 


124  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

powers  of  the  State.  Many  of  them  were  faithful  men 
of  God — men  of  one  work — seeking  the  souls  of  men, 
and  continuing  "steadfast,  immovable,  always  abound 
ing  in  the  work  of  the  Lord/'  through  all  the  storm 
and  shock  of  war;  and  this,  too,  at  no  little  cost. 

It  was  a  time  of  wide-spread  iniquity  with  almost 
all  classes.  Crime,  in  every  conceivable  form,  reveled 
without  shame,  and  hesitated  at  no  atrocity.  The  offi 
cers  of  law  and  the  courts  were  alike  powerless  to  punish 
crime  and  protect  innocence ;  "  and  because  iniquity 
did  abound  the  love  of  many  waxed  cold/'  and  the 
man  of  G-od  who  could  be  faithful  to  the  souls  of  men 
without  fear  or  favor  had  nerve,  courage,  faith. 

His  home  was  at  the  mercy  of  lawless  bands  whose 
nameless  crimes  his  last  sermon  rebuked,  and  his  head 
was  a  target  for  the  assassin's  bullet  whose  cowardly 
heart  felt  the  sting  of  conscious  guilt  under  the  search- 
ings  of  God's  truth — a  guilt,  too,  of  which  the  minister 
was  wholly  ignorant.  More  than  one  faithful  watch 
man,  during  those  "  times  that  tried  men's  souls/'  went 
from  his  pulpit  to  find  his  home  in  ashes,  his  wife  and 
children  shelterless  in  the  storm,  and  breadless  and 
friendless  in  the  world;  and  more  than  one,  who  did 
not  know  that  they  had  an  enemy  in  the  world,  were 
called  from  their  beds  at  midnight  to  be  shot  down  like 
dogs,  or  butchered  like  hogs  in  the  very  presence  of 
their  families,  without  warning,  without  any  known 
provocation,  and  without  knowing  their  murderers. 

Some  of  the  brightest  and  purest  lights  of  the  Church 
went  out  at  midnight — suddenly,  appallingly — and  their 
" souls  were  under  the  altar"  many  long,  weary  hours 
before  the  news  of  their  murder  could  pass  beyond  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  125 

family  threshold,  and  often  days  before  it  could  even 
reach  the  family  itself.  Many  of  these  murders  are 
wholly  unaccountable  upon  any  other  hypothesis  than 
that  intimated  above,  as  the  victims  hereafter  to  b.e 
named  had  kept  themselves  from  strife,  and  had  pur 
sued,  with  "singleness  of  heart  as  unto  the  Lord,"  their 
one  calling;  they  hud  taken  neither  part  nor  lot  in  the 
war,  one  way  or  the  other,  and,  indeed,  were  not  all  of 
one  political  faith ;  their  sympathies  were — some  for  the 
Union  and  some  for  the  South. 

The  men  who  stood  faithful  amid  the  faithless  were 
not  rash  and  reckless,  but  prudent  and  cautious,  as  it 
•well  becomes  those  who  stand  up  for  the  truth  in  the 
midst  of  a  crooked  and  perverse  generation.  Some 
ministers,  by  a  prudent,  consistent  course,  ministering 
to  all  alike,  and  keeping  their  political  views  and  sym 
pathies  to  themselves,  conquered,  in  a  measure,  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  leading  men  of  both  parties, 
after  so  long  a  time,  and  they  were  henceforth  pretty 
secure.  But  many  had  to  abandon  the  ministry  for  the 
time  being  and  seek  a  support  in  other  pursuits. 

For  some  reason,  no  part  of  the  minister's  public 
exercises  were  looked  to  with  more  interest  or  scrutin 
ized  more  closely  than  his  extemporaneous  prayers. 
Military  officers,  partisan  leaders,  and  all  men  of  strong 
sympathies  either  way,  watched  with  more  vigilance 
than  devotion  the  objects,  the  subjects,  the  language  and 
the  sentiment  of  the  extemporaneous  prayers  of  the 
pulpit.  They  were  supposed  to  show  the  drift  of  the 
minister's  sympathies  and  reflect  his  political  sentiments, 
and  many  people  felt  much  more  interested  in  that  than 
in  any  supplications  he  might  make  for  the  pardon  of 


126  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

guilt  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul.  Post  Commanders 
and  Provost  Marshals  would  not  unfrequently  send 
written  orders  to  the  officiating  minister  whose  sympa 
thies  were  suspected,  commanding  him  to  pray  for  Mr. 
Lincoln,  for  the  flag,  for  the  success  of  the  army  in 
crushing  out  the  rebellion,  or  for  the  destruction  of  all 
traitors,  or  something  else  of  the  sort  as  a  test  of  loyalty. 
And  often  a  minister's  bread,  his  home,  his  liberty  or 
his  life  were  suspended  upon  and  determined  by  the 
shade  of  meaning  given  to  a  word  or  phrase  in  his 
prayer.  Tne  effort  was  made  to  force  the  conscience  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  convert  the  prayer  into 
blasphemy,  or  get  from  it  a  pretext  for  executing  a 
malicious  purpose  already  formed,  and  for  which  there 
existed  neither  cause  nor  occasion. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  127 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

ANOMALOUS  CONDITION  OF  THE  STATE — GREAT  EXCITEMENT. 

Border  Slave  State — Missouri  State  Convention — The  Last  Hope — 
Virginia  Convention — Missouri  would  not  Secede — Rights  in  the 
Union — Disappointment — Anomalous  Position — Governor  Jackson 
and  G-eneral  Price—  Great  Excitement — Ministers  Embarrassed — 
One  False  Step  Fatal — The  Sword  vs.  Sympathy — "Why  the  Inno 
cent  and  Helpless  Suffered  more  in  Missouri  'than  Elsewhere — 
Constructive  Sympathy — Predatory  Bands — Hon.  Luther  J.  Glenn 
Commissioner  '  from  Georgia  —  The  Effect  of  the  Fall  of  Fort 
Surnter  and  President  Lincoln's  Proclamation — The  State  Officers, 
Legislature  and  Militia  Adhere  South — Assemble  atNeosho,  Pass 
an  Act  of  Secession,  Elect  Delegates  to  the  Confederate  Congress, 
etc.,  etc. — Preparations  for  ^Var — Union  vs.  Price's  Army — State 
Convention  Meets  Again — Its  Acts  and  Doings — Two  State  Gov 
ernments — Sympathy,  Property  and  Plunder — Ministers  Again — 
Their  Course — Days  of  Fasting  and  Prayer — Conferences — Meet 
ing  in  St.  Charles — Resolutions — Prudence  and  Prayer — The  Press 
— Anti-Christ  Abroad — Central  Christian  Advocate  and  a  few 
Facts — Rev.  Mr.  Gardner — "Men  and  Brethren  Help" — State 
Convention  again  in  October — The  First  Oath  for  Ministers. 

The  people  of  Missouri  contemplated  the  possibilities 
of  civil  war  with  the  peculiar  interests  of  a  border 
State,  fearing  that  when  it  came  the  border  slavehold- 
ing  States  would  be  the  main  theatre  of  strife.  They 
looked  with  the  deepest  solicitude  to  every  plan  for  the 
peaceful  adjustment  of  the  troubles,  and  not  until  the 
failure  of  the  "  Crittenden  Compromise"  did  they  con 
sider  the  result  inevitable.  The  much  talked  of  "  Border 
States  Convention  "  inspired  hope  in  the  less  informed, 
but  when  nothing  came  of  it  the  last  hope  perished. 

The  Missouri  Legislature,  by  an  act,  "  approved  Janu 
ary  21,  1861,"  called  a  State  convention  "to  consider 
the  then  existing  relations  between  the  Government  of 


128  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

the  United  States  and  the  people  and  Government  of 
the  several  States  and  the  Government  and  people  of 
Missouri,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  for  vindicating 
the  sovereignty  of  the  State  and  the  protection  of  its 
institutions  as  shall  appear  to  them  to  be  demanded." 

This  convention  assembled  in  Jefferson  City  February 
28,  1861,  and  organized  and  proceeded  to  the  work 
for  which  it  was  called. 

By  the  time  of  its  session  no  less  than  seven  of  tho 
Southern  States  had,  by  their  conventions,  adopted 
ordinances  of  secession,  declaring  themselves  separated 
from  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  organ 
ized  for  themselves  a  distinct  national  confederation. 
Other  States  were  in  a  greatly  disturbed  condition,  had 
called  State  conventions,  and  would  inevitably  follow 
their  sister  Southern  States.  "War  was  imminent  and 
preparations  for  it  were  active — alarming. 

Many  still  clung  to  the  delusion  that  the  national 
difficulties  would  be  settled  without  bloodshed,  and 
that  the  very  preparations  for  war  would  prevent  it. 

Virginia,  "the  mother  of  Presidents,"  had  a  State 
convention  then,  either  in  session  or  about  to  assemble, 
and  the  deepest  anxiety  was  felt  throughout  the  whole 
country  as  to  the  course  that  sturdy  old  State  would 
take.  It  was  believed  that  the  action  of  Missouri  and 
Virginia  would  either  prevent  or  precipitate  war,  by 
determining  the  true  position  of  all  the  border  slave 
States ;  consequently,  every  act  of  these  conventions, 
and  every  sentiment  uttered  in  them,  was  watched  and 
weighed  with  an  interest  and  eagerness  never  before 
known  in  the  history  of  the  country. 

In  Missouri  the  liveliest  interest  was  taken  by  all  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  129 

people  in  the  debate  on  the  report  of  the  committee  on 
Federal  Eolations,  and  not  until  it  became  an  ordinance 
of  the  Convention  could  the  majority  of  the  people  in 
the  rural  districts  believe  that  the  State  would  not 
secede  from  the  Federal  Union  and  unite  her  fortunes 
with  the  Southern  Confederacy.  The  simple  fact  that 
Missouri  was  a  slaveholding  State  was  sufficient  in  the 
minds  of  many  to  determine  her  Federal  relations,  or 
at  least  the  policy  of  secession.  Rights  in  the  Union 
were  considered  possible  by  the  few ;  rights  out  of  the 
Union  were  considered  the  only  hope  by  the  many. 

The  fact  that  the  State  officers  and  Legislature,  elected 
just  the  fall  before,  were  so  nearly  unanimous  in  their 
Southern  sympathies  that  they  could,  and  did,  secede  in 
a  body  without  disorganization,  and  without  taking  the 
State  with  them,  shows  how  strong  must  have  been  the 
Southern  feeling  at  the  time  of  their  election.  Sectional 
issues  were  as  clearly  and  distinctly  made  in  the  State 
as  in  the  Presidential  election,  and  with  a  unanimity 
rare  in  the  history  of  elections  the  people  endorsed 
the  pro-slavery  party. 

The  action  of  the  State  convention  in  February,  1861, 
put  the  State  in  an  anomalous  condition.  The  effect 
was  to  detach  the  State  government  from  the  State  and 
vacate  the  several  departments  of  the  State  government 
without  a  vacating  ordinance.  The  representatives  in 
the  State  Legislature  found  themselves  without  a  Consti 
tution  and  the  people  without  representatives.  It  was 
soon  evident  that  neither  Governor  C.  F.  Jackson  and 
his  cabinet  nor  the  majority  of  the  General  Assembly 
were  in  sympathy  with  the  action  of  the  Convention. 
The  President  of  the  Convention,  Hon.  Sterling  Price, 


130  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

and  a  respectable  minority  dissented  in  their  feelings 
from  the  action  of  a  majority,  and  conscientiously 
believed  that  the  true  interest  of  the  State  was  in 
political  and  commercial  alliance  with  the  Southern 
Confederacy. 

Notwithstanding  the  majority  of  the  people  were 
loyal  to  the  Federal  Government  when  the  delegates  to 
the  State  Convention  were  elected,  in  January,  1861, 
yet  the  course  pursued  by  Governor  Jackson,  General 
Price,  and  those  high  in  authority  who  were  associated 
with  them,  very  greatly  unsettled  the  people  of  the 
State  in  their  political  faith,  and  produced  such  general 
excitement  amongst  all  classes,  that  the  greatest  fears 
were  entertained  from  the  first  of  an  intensity  and  bit 
terness  of  strife  in  Missouri  to  which  other  State-s  would 
not  be  subjected. 

No  one  not  then  residing  in  the  State  can  fully  appre 
ciate  the  condition  of  things  which  this  complication  of 
public  policy  developed.  Ministers  of  the  gospel  and 
other  non-combatants  were  not  prepared  to  meet  the 
novel  exigencies  arising  out  of  such  an  anomalous  state 
of  things,  in  consequence  of  which  many  of  them  were 
placed  in  very  embarrassing  circumstances,  and  not  a 
few  found  themselves  forced  into  positions  which  their 
cooler  and  better  judgment  afterward  condemned.  The 
pride  of  some  kept  them  in  positions  where  their  indis 
cretion  had  placed  them,  and  from,  which  their  sober 
judgment  would  fain  extricate  them;  and  in  this  way 
many  non-combatants  were  made  combatants,  and  many 
were  forced  from  their  families,  their  homes,  their 
property  and  their  country.  The  people  were  all  un 
used  to  civil  revolutions  and  inexperienced  in  the  art 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  131 

of  adjustment  and  adaptation.  One  false  step  in  youth 
may  be  fatal  to  all  the  objects  and  aims  of  life,  blast  all 
its  hopes  and  promises,  and  cause  all  its  plans  and  pur 
poses  to  miscarry — may  be  irretrievably  disastrous.  So 
in  the  first  stages  of  civil  revolutions,  a  mistake  may  be 
fatal ;  and  fatal  mistakes  are  common.  Men  who  were 
not  secessionists  found  themselves  fighting  for  secession, 
and  men  who  were  not  Union  men  were  forced  by  a 
combination  of  circumstances  to  fight  for  the  Union. 
A  man's  sword  often  cut  through  his  sympathies,  and 
his  sympathies  often  formed  the  scabbard  for  his  sword; 
while  the  "  aiding  and  abetting  "  was  as  often  by  con 
straint  and  coercion  as  by  choice.  Even  the  regimental 
colors  of  opposing  armies  did  not  always  and  faithfully 
reflect  the  true  sentiment  of  field  and  staff,  rank  and 
file.  Sympathy  was  too  confused  and  policy  too  un 
settled  to  admit  of  either  infallible  prescience  in  choice 
or  fidelity  in  the  execution  in  all  cases.  Hence  many 
good  men  suffered  for  principles  not  their  own,  and 
sacrificed  life  and  all  for  a  cause  with  which  they  were 
not  in  sympathy. 

Popular  excitements  are  never  favorable  to  deliberate 
prejudgment  or  right  action,  and  in  Missouri  more  than 
elsewhere  the  intensity  of  excitement  at  this  time  de 
throned  judgment  and  defeated  action.  It  is  believed 
that  much  suffering  and  many  of  the  most  shocking 
features  of  the  war  could  have  been  prevented  by  the 
party  leaders  on  both  sides  in  Missouri. 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  when  a  true  history  of 
the  war  is  written,  it  will  appear  that,  in  its  reckless 
ness  of  life  and  wantonness  of  destruction,  and  in  all  its 
most  shameless,  and  revolting,  and  nameless  crimes  per- 


132  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

petrated  upon  the  unoffending,  the  innocent  and  the 
helpless,  the  non-combatant  population  of  Missouri  has 
suffered  more  than  any  other  class  of  people  in  any 
State.  And  much  of  the  sufferings  of  this  class  of 
people  is  justly  chargeable  to  those  into  whose  hands 
the  conduct  of-  the  war  in  this  State  was  first  placed. 
The  just  judgment  of  posterity  and  the  just  retribu 
tions  of  eternity  will  hold  to  a  righteous  account 
ability  those  who,  under  whatever  pretense,  made  war 
upon  ministers  of  the  gospel,  unoffending  old  men,  and 
helpless  women  and  children,  dragging  them  to  prison 
and  to  death,  while  the  pretext  for  it  was  found  only  in 
the  hasty  expression  of  sympathy,  or  the  constructive 
connection  with  one  side  or  the  other  based  upon  church 
affiliations. 

For  instance,  Southern  Methodists,  and  Southern 
Baptists,  and  Southern  Presbyterians  were  by  the 
Union  men  and  forces  constructively  identified  with 
secession  and  rebellion,  and  put  in  sympathy  with  the 
Southern  cause.  The  first  from  the  beginning,  the  last 
two  after  the  virtual  disruption  of  those  respective 
churches. 

Under  the  heat  of  party  passion  many  innocent  vic 
tims  suffered  the  spoiling  of  their  goods,  and  often  the 
loss  of  life  itself,  only  upon  this  constructive  evidence. 

The  principal  portions  of  the  State  were  always  held 
by  the  Union  forces,  and  their  subordinate  officers  and 
independent,  predatory  bands  were  either  commissioned 
to  make  war  upon  these  innocent  and  defenseless  people 
or  they  did  it  without  commission.  Certain  it  is  that 
it  was  done,  and  done,  too,  relentlessly  and  indiscrim 
inately.  How  far  this  state  of  things  i?  due  to  the  con- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  133 

verse  action  of  the  legitimate  State  Legislature  and  the 
legitimate  State  Convention — the  one  elected  in  No 
vember,  1860,  and  the  other  elected  in  January,  1861, 
and  both  assuming  to  reflect  the  will  of  the  people — and 
how  far  it  is  due  to  the  course  pursued  subsequently  by 
Governor  Jackson,  General  Price,  and  the  whole  State 
Government,  with  the  legislative  branch  thrown  in, 
adhering  South,  may  be  determined  by  others.  The 
people  of  the  State,  who  were  not  accustomed  to  a  long 
search  after  remote  causes,  were  free — and  many  of 
them  are  still  free — to  attribute  these  most  inhuman 
features  of  the  war  to  those  who  were  put  in  command 
of  the  Federal  forces  in  this  department,  the  officers  and 
men  of  the  State  militia,  and  the  "Kansas  Red-legs," 
as  they  were  generally  called. 

The  first  session  of  the  State  Convention  did  very 
little  more  than  discuss  and  determine  the  Federal  rela 
tions  of  the  State.  The  State  of  Georgia  had  an 
accredited  commissioner  present  in  the  person  of  Hon. 
Luther  J.  Glenn,  a  distinguished  citizen  of  that  State, 
asking  Missouri  to  secede  and  join  the  Southern  Con 
federacy.  The  Convention  heard  him  respectfully,  but, 
after  due  deliberation,  rejected  the  proposition,  and 
resolved  to  remain  in  and  try  to  preserve  the  integrity 
of  the  Union. 

The  Convention  also  appointed  a  Commission  to  at 
tend  the  "Border  States  Convention,"  and  adjourned 
to  await  results. 

The  people  of  the  State  were  still  in  much  of  a  dilemma 
until  after  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  proclamation  of 
President  Lincoln,  and  the  capture  of  Camp  Jackson. 
Then  it  was  discovered  that  the  State  Government,  with 


134  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

Governor  Jackson  at  the  head,  was  in  sympathy  with 
the  South,  and  would  adhere  South  in  defiance  of  the 
Convention.  It  was  also  discovered  that  the  "Missouri 
State  Guard/'  which  had  been  raised,  officered,  armed 
and  equipped  by  the  Legislature  the  previous  winter, 
would  adhere  South,  with  General  Sterling  Price  in 
command.  These  revelations  excited  and  alarmed  the 
people  all  over  the  State,  and  presented  new  difficulties 
and  embarrassments,  which  were  greatly  complicated 
and  enhanced  by  the  simultaneous  appearance  in  differ 
ent  parts  of  the  State  of  the  U.  S.  forces  equipped  for 
war.  Indignation  and  consternation  alternated  in  the 
public  mind,  until  some  definite  line  of  policy  was  dis 
closed  and  the  people  knew  what  to  expect. 

Governor  Jackson  fled  the  capital  of  the  State  with 
his  officers  and  army,  taking  the  great  seal  of  State  and 
the  official  records  of  the  several  State  Departments 
with  him,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done.  He  convened  the 
Legislature  in  Neosho,  organized  and  put  into  operation 
the  several  Departments  of  the  State  Government.  "An 
Act  of  Secession  "  was  passed  by  the  General  Assembly; 
delegates  were  elected  to  the  Confederate  Congress;  a 
proclamation  was  issued  to  the  people  of  Missouri,  and 
many  other  things  were  done  to  force  the  State  out  of 
the  Union  and  commit  her  destinies  to  the  fate  of  the 
Southern  cause.  This  meant  war;  and. the  wisest  men 
abandoned  for  ever  the  idea  of  a  peaceful  adjustment  of 
the  difficulties,  and  prepared  for  that  which  neither  the 
counsels  of  the  prudent  nor  the  prayers  of  the  good 
could  avert. 

For  the  next  few  months  the  preparations  for  war  on 
both  sides  were  active  and  general.  Plows  were  left 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  135 

standing  in  the  furrows ;  wheat  stood  unshocked  and 
ungarnered  in  the  fields;  mechanics  arid  artisans  closed 
their  shops  and  exchanged  hammers  and  saws  for  guns 
and  swords;  merchants  dismissed  their  clerks  and 
manufacturers  their  hands,  and  all  prepared  for  the 
war;  saddleries,  foundries  and  gunsmiths  were  pressed 
out  of  measure  with  work,  and  the  country  was  ran 
sacked  for  mules  and  horses  for  service.  The  policy 
was,  "He  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  coat  and 
buy  one/7 

President  Lincoln's  call  upon  Governor  Jackson  for 
the  quota  of  troops  from  this  State  to  help  the  Federal 
Government  put  down  insurrection  and  rebellion  had 
been  promptly  and  curtly  declined  by  that  official,  and 
yet  ten  times  more  than  the  President  asked  for  stood 
ready  to  respond  to  the  call  in  defiance  of  Governor 
Jackson. 

The  cities  and  towns  along  the  railroad  lines  especi 
ally  turned  out  a  heavy  surplus  population  for  the 
Union  army,  while  the  river  towns  and  rural  districts 
supplied  men  and  material  for  "  Price's  army,"  as  it 
was  familiarly  called. 

The  state  of  things  thus  presented  made  it  necessary 
to  convene  the  State  Convention  again,  which  was  done 
by  the  Committee  appointed  for  that  purpose  at  its  first 
session.  In  pursuance  of  the  call  of  a  majority  of  said 
Committee  the  State  Convention  assembled  again  in 
Jefferson  City,  July  22,  1861. 

A  very  different  state  of  things  existed  now  in  the 
State,  and  the  Convention  had  to  meet  new  questions 
and  provide  for  new  exigencies.  The  Governor  of  the 
State,  the  president  and  many  members  of  the  Conven- 


136  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

tion,  and  the  Legislature  that  originated  and  provided 
for  the  Convention,  had  all  cut  themselves  loose  from 
the  Convention  and  the  people  represented  by  the  Con 
vention. 

The  State  was  virtually  without  a  Governor,  and  the 
Governor  was  without  a  State.  The  Convention  did 
not  hesitate  in  meeting  these  novel  exigencies  promptly 
and  decidedly.  On  the  seventh  day  the  Convention 
passed  "An  Ordinance  providing  for  certain  Amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution/'  which  ordinance  vacated 
the  offices  of  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  Secretary 
of  State  and  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  pro 
vided  for  the  election  of  the  first  three  by  the  Conven 
tion  immediately,  and  then  ordered  a  general  election 
the  following  November.  Hon.  Hamilton  R.  Gamble 
was  elected  provisional  Governor,  Hon.  Willard  P.  Hall 
Lieutenant-Governor,  and  Hon.  Mordecai  Oliver  Secre 
tary  of  State.  Henceforth  the  people  of  the  State  had 
two  State  Governments,  and  the  divisions  and  strifes 
were  distinct  and  complete. 

The  effect  of  this  state  of  things  was  to  unsettle  the 
people  more  than  ever,  and  the  lines  were  clearly 
drawn.  The  policy  of  the  Federal  and  State  authorities 
was  more  positive  and  decided.  "He  that  is  not  for  us 
is  against  us  "  was  not  only  of  frequent  utterance,  but 
of  dogged  application.  It  was  assumed  that  all  men 
had  sympathies  for  one  party  or  the  other,  and  an  ex 
pression  of  them  in  any  way  was  sure  to  provoke  the 
hostility  of  those  who  assumed  the  guardianship  of 
human  sensibilities.  Property  belonging  to  persons  of 
opposing  sympathies  was  confiscated  and  appropriated 
to  the  use  of  the  officers  and  men  taking  it ;  and  at  this 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  137 

stage  of  the  war  the  effort  was  made  to  force  the  sym 
pathies  of  men  through  their  property.  Many  a  well 
stocked  farm  was  stripped  of  everything  that  could  be 
carried  off  and  the  dwellings  burned  to  the  ground,  be 
cause  it  was  said  the  family  had  Southern  sympathies  ; 
and  many  a  helpless  man  and  woman,  too,  had  to  prove 
themselves  innocent  of  crimes  of  which  they  were  as 
sumed  to  be  guilty  to  save  them  from  an  uncoffined 
grave. 

Armed  brigands  came  down  from  Kansas  and  Iowa, 
and  over  from  Illinois,  to  plunder  and  rob  the  rich 
farmers  of  Missouri,  and  many  of  the  poor  ones,  too,  in 
the  name  of  the  Union,  and  to  preserve  the  Constitu 
tion.  They  carried  away  wagons,  horses,  mules  and 
stock  of  every  description,  plundered  houses  of  silver 
plate,  jewelry,  beds  and  bedding,  carpets,  clothing  of 
men,  women  and  children — even  the  mementoes  of  ladies 
and  the  toys  of  children — everything  that  could  gratify 
their  cupidity  or  vex  and  mortify  the  original  owners. 
All  this  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  by  enriching 
the  houses  and  pockets  of  men  who  cared  for  no  higher 
distinction. 

Ministers  of  the  gospel  suffered  in  common  with 
others,  especially  those  of  the  Southern  Methodist 
Church,  and  others  who  were  suspected  of  disloyal 
sentiments.  Many  of  them  had  to  "take  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods  joyfully,"  or  otherwise,  and  were  wholly 
broken  up  and  reduced  to  penury  and  want,  and  yet 
many  of  them  were  honestly  and  earnestly  laboring  to 
abate  the  feverish  excitement,  allay  the  bitterness  of 
feeling  and  promote  "on  earth  peace  and  good  will 
toward  men." 


138  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

The  Annual  Conferences  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
in  the  fall  of  I860,  recommended  to  all  Christian  people 
the  observance  of  a  "  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and 
prayer  "  for  the  peace  of  the  country  and  the  amicahle 
adjustment  of  existing  difficulties.  This  had  been  gen 
erally  observed  throughout  the  State  the  week  before 
the  Presidential  election,  and,  doubtless,  did  much  good 
in  humbling  the  Church  before  God,  and  in  directing 
the  hearts  and  faith  of  the  people  to  the  only  "refuge 
and  strength  and  present  help  in  time  of  trouble." 

After  actual  hostilities  had  been  in  progress  a  little 
more  than  one  month  a  number  of  ministers  of  differ 
ent  churches  assembled  in  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  May  21, 
1861,  and,  after  prayer  and  deliberation,  adopted  the 
following : 

"WHEREAS,  In  the  Providence  of  God  our  country 
is  now  involved  in  a  civil  war,  which  has  already 
brought  upon  us  many  calamities,  and  still  threatens  to 
introduce  a  state  of  ill  will,  discord  and  desolation 
utterly  inconsistent  with  our  condition  as  a  Christian 
land;  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  we  meet  together  on  this  day  in 
the  fear  of  God,  and  with  a  firm  reliance  on  his  divine 
Providence  as  a  Christian  people,  communicants  of  the 
respective  churches  in  this  city,  to  observe  such  means 
as  will  at  least  tend  to  promote  good  will  among  our 
selves  during  the  continuance  of  this  war. 

"  2.  That  we  regard  all  war  as  a  sore  calamity,  con 
trary  to  the  spirit  and  teaching  of  the  gospel,  and  more 
especially  a  civil  war,  as  revolting  to  our  Christian 
teaching,  unnatural,  abhorrent  to  all  our  Christian 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  139 

instincts,  and  subversive  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  whose 
blessed  mission  was  to  establish  peace  on  earth. 

"  3.  That,  as  ministers  of  the  Christian  churches,  irre 
spective  of  our  private  opinions,  we  do  hereby  pledge 
ourselves,  one  to  another,  ministers  and  people,  to 
abstain  as  far  as  possible  from  all  bitter  and  exciting 
controversy  upon  the  questions  now  agitating  the  public 
mind,  but  will,  each  within  the  sphere  of  our  influence, 
endeavor  to  promote  a  spirit  of  brotherly  love,  and  by 
calm  and  judicious  counsel,  animated  by  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  our  peaceful  Master,  suppress  every  act  among 
ourselves  which  may  have  a  tendency  to  increase  the 
present  difficulties. 

"  4.  That  we  call  upon  the  Christians  of  our  land  to 
band  together  to  stay,  if  possible,  the  further  shedding 
of  fraternal  blood,  etc.,  etc. 

"  5.  That  we  will  not  forget  our  best  refuge — prayer 
— and  therefore  humble  ourselves  before  God  and  sup 
plicate  our  Heavenly  Father  to  quell  the  madness  of  the 
people  and  put  away  from  us  all  bitterness,  and  anger, 
and  clamor,  and  evil  speaking,  and  animate  us  with  the 
gentle  spirit  of  peace  on  earth  and  good  will  toward 
men. 

"  6.  That,  with  trustful  resignation  and  humble  faith 
in  the  strength  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  we  do  cordially 
recommend  to  all  Christian  churches  to  set  apart  Thurs 
day,  June  6,  1861,  as  a  day  of  private  and  public  sup 
plication,  with  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer,"  etc. 

Similar  meetings  were  held  in  other  places  to  avert 
the  calamity  of  war,  or  to  abate  some  of  its  bitterness, 
and  promote  peace  and  good  will  amongst  neighbors 
and  non-combatants. 


140  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Yery  few  ministers,  comparatively,  espoused  actively 
the  cause  of  either  party,  but  pursued  with  a  singleness 
of  purpose  their  legitimate  calling,  ministering  to  all 
alike,  and  seeking  only  to  make  the  gospel  the  "power 
of  God  unto  salvation."  Individual  ministers  and 
ecclesiastical  bodies  felt  deeply  the  importance  of  pru 
dence,  quietness  and  ministerial  fidelity  to  the  Church 
of  Jesus  Christ,  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  had  made 
them  pastors  ;  that  the  ministry  be  not  blam^J,  that  the 
cause  of  the  Master  be  kept  above  reproach,  and  that  a 
pure  Christianity  might  always  conserve  the  public 
peace. 

Notwithstanding  the  good  intentions  and  laudable 
efforts  made  by  the  ministry  of  Missouri  generally  to 
promote  the  public  peace,  the  press  of  the  State,  both 
secular  and  religious,  did  very  much  to  break  the  force 
of  their  well-meant  endeavors,  and  seemed  determined 
either  to  drag  the  Church  into  the  most  ultra  partisan 
support  of  the  war,  or,  in  case  of  failure,  to  place  both 
under  the  suspicion  and  surveillance  of  the  military 
authorities. 

The  spirit  of  anti-Christ,  which  had  been  increasing 
and  spreading  for  years  in  Missouri,  now  assumed  a 
boldness  and  a  defiance  that  hesitated  not  to  use  the 
party  hatred  of  religious  editors  and  preachers  to  make 
a  bold  advance  upon  the  doctrines  and  services  of  those 
who  represented  a  pure,  non-political,  un secular  Chris 
tianity.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  the  plainest  facts  to 
be  perverted,  if,  by  so  doing,  the  cry  of  persecution  for 
loyalty's  sake  could  be  raised  and  the  most  reckless 
passions  of  men  could  be  fired.  In  this  kind  of  busi 
ness  the  Northern  Methodist  preachers  and  papers  were 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  141 

more  expert  than  others,  and  the  hope  of  wreaking  a 
mean  vengeance  on  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  supplied 
sufficient  motive.  Such  a  declaration  should  not  be 
made  unless  demanded  and  supported  by  the  plainest 
facts.  Unfortunately  they  are  not  wanting,  and  a  few 
only  must  be  selected  from  the  many. 

The  Central  Christian  Advocate,  published  in  St.  Louis 
for  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  and  edited  by  Dr.  C. 
Elliott,  seized  every  event  that  could  be  tortured  into 
an  occasion  for  an  inflammatory  article  against  the 
ministers,  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Some  time  in  September,  1860,  the  Northern  Metho 
dists  held  a  camp  meeting  not  far  from  Utica,  in  Living 
ston  county,  North  Missouri.  The  preacher  in  charge 
was  one  Eev.  Mr.  Gardner,  who  had  already  rendered 
himself  obnoxious  to  the  people  by  intermeddling  with 
politics,  tampering  with  slaves  and  unministerial  con 
duct  in  the  social  circle.  This  camp-meeting  was 
broken  up  on  a  Monday  without  service  and  in  great 
confusion.  The  cause  was  no  matter  of  conjecture,  nor 
of  its  authenticity  were  the  people  permitted  to  doubt. 

The  Eev.  Mr.  Gardner  had,  the  night  before,  been 
found  in  the  wrong  tent,  from  which  he  was  summarily 
ejected  by  the  ladies.  The  public  indignation  was  too 
intense  the  next  day  to  allow  services  to  be  held,  and 
the  crime  of  the  preacher  was  made  too  apparent  by  the 
separation  of  a  man  and  wife,  the  latter  of  whom  had 
made  herself  rather  conspicuous  by  her  great  zeal  in 
the  service  of  Gardner  and  the  Church. 

The  Central  Christian  Advocate  published  it  as  a  "great 
outrage,"  and  made  the  breaking  up  of  that  meeting  do 
good  service  in  the  persecution  of  the  ministers  of  the 


142  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

M.  E.  Church  by  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South.  The  editor  of  that  paper  said  so 
much  about  it  that  good,  honest,  reliable  men  went  to 
the  place  and  investigated  the  matter.  It  was  after 
ward  ventilated  through  the  public  prints,  to  the  in 
finite  humiliation  of  the  profession  which  the  man  dis 
graced  and  the  reproach  of  the  cause  which  he  shame 
lessly  belied. 

Many  other  things  of  similar  character  did  much  good 
service  for  the  party  and  the  Church  during  the  follow 
ing  winter  and  spring,  doubtless  designed  to  manufacture 
prejudice  against  the  people  of  the  State,  and  especially 
the  Southern  Methodists. 

The  Central,  of  May  15, 1861,  contained  the  following : 

"MEN  AND  BRETHREN,  HELP! 

"  One  of  our  preachers,  last  Sabbath  week,  some  thir 
teen  miles  from  this  city,  was  struck  down,  his  meeting 
broken  up,  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
had  oversight  of  the  assault,  which  was  conducted  under 
their  superintendence.  So  said  Bro.  Miller,  the  preacher, 
and  a  member  of  our  Church,  a  Missourian,  whose  father 
and  mother  were  buried  in  Missouri,  and  in  which  he 
proposes  to  be  buried,  whether  killed  by  others  or  dying 
in  the  natural  way." 

While  the  editor  should  be  excused  from  writing  a 
paragraph  so  awkward  and  bungling,  the  real  object 
will  not  be  mistaken.  It  is  only  necessary  to  state  that 
an  intelligent  gentleman  who  was  present  pronounces 
the  whole  thing  utterly  false.  The  meeting  was  not 
broken  up,  the  preacher  was  not  knocked  down,  and 
there  was  but  one  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
present  at  the  service,  and  he  left  before  the  trouble, 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  143 

which  occurred  outside  of  the  church  after  services  were 
closed,  and  grew  out  of  some  insulting  language  used 
by  the  preacher  to  a  gentleman  present,  which  was  re 
sented  with  only  one  slight  blow  which  scarcely  reached 
the  reverend  offender.  They  were  separated  before 
any  damage  was  done,  and  left  the  Central  to  do  all  the 
damage. 

In  this  case,  as  in  the  Gardner  case,  the  Southern 
Methodists  were  not  implicated  ;  but  for  these  and  many 
other  things  of  which  they  were  wholly  innocent  they 
had  to  suffer  deeply  and  grievously,  as  these  pages  will 
show. 

Durino-  the  summer  of  1861  a  number  of  ministers  in 

& 

different  portions  of  the  State  were  robbed  of  all  that 
they  possessed  of  this  world's  goods,  some  were  driven 
into  exile,  and  some  arrested  and  put  into  military 
prisons.  But  more  of  these  hereafter. 

The  State  Convention  reassembled  again,  October  10, 
1861,  in  St.  Louis,  passed  several  vacating  ordinances, 
and  provided  for  the  more  efficient  prosecution  of  the 
war  and  the  establishment  of  a  more  reliable  sympathy 
between  the  State  and  the  Federal  Administration. 
Amongst  other  things  it  was  ordained  that  all  the  civil 
officers  of  the  State  should  take,  subscribe  and  file  with 
County  Court  Clerks  an  oath  of  allegiance  or  loyalty  to 
support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of 
the  State  of  Missouri,  and  not  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  or  the  Provisional 
Government  of  this  State,  nor  give  aid  or  comfort  to 
the  enemies  of  either,  and  maintain  and  support  the 
Provisional  Government  established  by  the  State  Con 
vention  of  Missouri.  This  oath  of  allegiance  was 
required  of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  as  such. 


144  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  PULPIT  AND  PRESS  ON  THE    SITUATION  IN  MISSOURI. 

Ministers  of  Peace — Course  Pursued  by  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advo 
cate—Rev.  Dr.  M' Anally  its  Editor— Candid,  Truthful,  Honest — 
The  Cause  of  its  Suppression,  and  the  Imprisonment  of  the  Editor 
— Ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Labor  and  Pray  Earnestly 
for  Peace— Days  of  Fasting,  Humiliation  and  Prayer— Ministers 
who  became  Political  Partisans  had  no  use  for  such  days — "  Breath 
ing  out  Threatening  and  Slaughter  "—Spirit  of  the  Northern 
Methodist  Press— False  Publications  for  a  Purpose— One  Mr.  John 
Stearns  and  the  Western  Advocate — Glaring  Falsehoods — Excite 
ment  in  St.  Louis  and  Throughout  the  State — Persecution  of  Min 
isters  in  Kansas  and  Reign  of  Terror  along  the  Border — Rev.  "W. 
H.  Mobly  and  Rev.  John  Monroe  in  Southwest  Missouri — Sys 
tematic  Efforts  to  Break  up  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  Dis 
perse  her  Ministers — Editorial  in  St.  Louis  Advocate — The  Cen 
tral  Again  —  Impressions  Abroad  —  Baptists  and  Presbyterians 
Implicated — "  Religion  in  Missouri" — Missouri  Conference  at 
Glasgow — St.  Louis  Conference  at  Arrow  Rock  and  Waverly — 
Conference  Stampeded  by  the  Rumor  of  a  Gunboat — Author 
Arrested. 

That  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  Missouri  did  not 
commit  themselves  to  the  strife  of  war,  but  sought  to 
promote  peace  and  good  order  in  the  State,  may  be 
learned  from  the  frequent  counsel  given  to  their  con 
gregations  to  remain  at  home,  and  "as  much  as  lay  in 
them  live  peaceably  with  all  men." 

Many  a  young  man  was  prevented  from  going  to 
"  Price's  army,"  or  any  other,  by  the  timely  advice  of 
these  men  of  God,  and  many  a  wife  and  mother  rejoice 
to-day  in  the  life  and  love  of  husband  and  son  only 
through  the  godly  admonition  of  faithful  pastors. 
Some  few  ministers,  it  is  true,  were  led  astray  by  popu- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  145 

lar  excitement,  or  forced  to  quit  their  homes  and  flocks 
by  causes  heretofore  mentioned,  and  then  they  preached 
privately  what  they  practiced  publicly.  But  such  cases 
were  too  rare  to  involve  the  whole  ministry  as  a  class, 
even  by  the  weakest  implication.  Neither  were  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  as  a  whole,  nor  the  ministers 
of  any  one  Church  in  Missouri,  distal  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  or  the  Provisional  Govern 
ment  of  this  State.  But  the  very  Churches  and  minis 
ters  that  had  to  suffer  the  most  direful  penalties,  in  the 
destruction  of  property,  the  persecution,  imprisonment 
and  murder  of  ministers  in  the  subsequent  years  of  the 
war,  were  now  doing  more  than  any  other  in  the  State 
to  prevent  the  war  and  promote  the  public  peace  and 
tranquillity. 

The  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  edited  by  the  Eev. 
D.  R.  M'Anally,  D.  D.,  contained  a  series  of  very  able 
editorials,  running  through  April  and  a  part  of  May, 
1861,  on  «  The  Times;'  "  The  Duty  of  Christian  Men/' 
"  The  Time  for  Prayer/'  "  To  the  Ministers  and  Members 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  in  Missouri  and  Kansas," 
"  The  Times — A  Word  to  our  Patrons  and  Friends/'  and 
kindred  topics,  in  which  the  people  were  warned  of  the 
character  of  the  danger  that  threatened,  advised  to 
remain  at  home,  cultivate  their  lands  and  pursue  the 
avocations  of  peace  and  piety  in  the  fear  of  God,  as  the 
best  means  of  promoting  good  order  in  the  State,  and 
at  least  mitigating  the  horrors  of  war. 

That  paper  was  candid  and  earnest  in  warning  the 
public  of  the  magnitude  of  the  rebellion  and  the  un 
precedented  unanimity  and  courage  of  the  Southern 

people,  and  when  the  Northern  press  generally  repre- 
10 


146  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

sented  the  boasted  strength  of  the  rebellion  as  too  puer 
ile  and  insignificant  to  involve  the  National  Govern 
ment  -in  any  serious  trouble  or  protracted  war,  that 
paper  sought  truthfully  and  conscientiously  to  disabuse 
the  public  mind,  and  thereby  prevent  the  many  dis 
astrous  blunders  committed  by  an  underestimate  of  the 
military  resources  and  strength  of  the  South. 

How  much  of  suffering  might  have  been  prevented, 
and  how  many  thousands  of  valuable  lives  might  have 
been  spared  to  the  country,  to  say  nothing  of  the  mil 
lions  of  treasure,  had  the  advice  of  that  paper  been 
taken  and  the  timely  warnings  of  its  honored  editor 
been  heeded.  But,  like  all  gratuitous  counsel  that  is 
unpalatable,  because  truthful,  it  was  contemned,  the 
motive  of  its  author  suspected,  and  the  existence  of  its 
medium  considered  dangerous. 

Very  many  of  the  religious  papers  of  the  border 
States  had  already  been  suspended,  and  the  continuance 
of  this  one  was  a  doubtful  problem  for  many  months 
before  its  suppression. 

Dr.  M'  Anally 's  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  of  truth 
and  error,  of  justice  and  righteousness,  were  derived 
from  the  old  standards.  He  had  no  patience  with  the 
new  standards  of  virtue  that  grew  out  of  party  fan 
aticism  and  war  expediencies;  new  fangled  notions,  dis 
simulations,  prevarication  and  moral  traveetie  "he 
could  not  away  with."  He  had  not  so  learned  the 
responsibilities  of  public  journalism,  and  hence  his 
simple-hearted  appreciation  of  right  led  him  to  expose 
the  wrong  wherever  it  existed.  His  honesty  required 
him  to  denounce  the  wide-spread  dishonesty  of  the 
times.  His  simple  love  of  truth  caused  him  to  make 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  147 

honest  and  truthful  reports  of  the  "  News  of  the  Week" 
according  to  the  actual  facts,  without  reference  to  the 
interest  of  this  party  or  that  party,  this  army  or  that, 
this  commanding  officer  or  that.  In  this  his  paper  pre 
sented  such  a  contrast  with  the  press  generally  that  it 
was  sought  and  read  by  thousands  of  both  parties,  and 
accepted  by  the  unprejudiced  as  the  most  reliable  paper 
then  published. 

But  because  it  was  truthful,  and  honest,  and  candid, 
and  popular,  and  reliable,  it  was  pronounced  disloyal 
and  dangerous ;  and  because  it  would  not  serve  the  cause 
of  cruelty,  confiscation,  conflagration,  desolation  and 
destruction,  and  with  the  venom  of  a  viper  hound  on 
the  barbarous  hordes  with  fire  and  sword  to  the  com 
mission  of  the  foulest  deeds  of  war;  nor  with  sancti 
monious  hypocrisy  sanctify  the  implements  and  instru 
ments  of  blood  and  death,  and  canonize  the  vilest 
thieves,  and  robbers,  and  murderers;  for  these  reasons 
the  paper  was  set  down  by  the  enemies  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  as  in  the  interest  of  treason  and  rebel 
lion,  and  by  them  the  military  authorities  were  induced 
to  suppress  the  paper  and  arrest  and  imprison  its  editor. 
Of  his  arrest  and  long  confinement  in  the  Myrtle 
Street  Military  Prison,  St.  Louis,  the  reader  will  be 
more  fully  informed  hereafter. 

That  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  who 
suffered  more  than  others  during  the  war  in  Missouri, 
did  not  provoke  the  strife  nor  enhance  its  malignity, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  labored  earnestly  and  prayed  fer 
vently  for  the  return  of  peace  to  our  distracted  country, 
take  the  following  from  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate, 
of  June  13,  1861: 


148  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

"FASTING   AND    PRAYER. 

ff  To  the  Ministers  and  Members  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  in  the  Missouri  and  St.  Louis  Conferences. 

"  DEAR  BRETHREN  AND  SISTERS  :  Whereas,  our  once 
happy  and  prosperous  country  is  now  involved  in  the 
calamities  of  civil  war,  which  threatens  ruin  to  all  our 
cherished  hopes  and  interests;  and  whereas,  God 
alone,  in  the  exercise  of  his  sovereign  and  gracious  dis 
pensations,  can  avert  the  terrible  evil;  and  as  he  has 
promised  to  be  inquired  of  by  those  that  fear  him,  and 
to  interpose  for  those  who  reverently  and  submissively 
supplicate  his  mercy  and  seek  his  Divine  interposition, 
it  therefore  becomes  to  every  Christian  community  both 
a  high  privilege  and  a  solemn  duty,  in  such  times  of 
serious  and  alarming  trials,  humbly  and  reverently  to 
prostrate  themselves  before  the  mercy  seat  and  sup 
plicate  that  aid  and  deliverance  which  God  only  can 
afford. 

"  And,  as  I  have  been  requested  by  many  ministers 
and  laymen  of  both  Conferences  (in  view  of  my  seni 
ority  as  a  minister)  to  designate  and  recommend  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer,  I  would,  therefore,  most  respect 
fully  recommend  that  Wednesday,  the  third  day  of  July, 
be  set  apart  and  observed  for  this  solemn  purpose,  and 
that  appropriate  religious  services  be  held  in  all  our 
places  of  worship ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  expressed 
wishes  of  many,  and,  as  I  think,  in  accordance  with 
manifest  propriety,  I  tender  most  cordially,  in  behalf 
of  the  whole  Church,  an  invitation  to  all  Christian 
people  of  the  State  to  unite  with  us  on  that  day,  humbly 
and  devoutly  to  supplicate,  in  behalf  of  our  common 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  149 

country,  that  God,  who  can  turn  the  hearts  of  men  as 
the  streams  in  the  south,  would  forgive  our  sins  and  in 
his  merciful  providence  hasten  the  return  of  peace  to 
our  country — our  entire  country. 

"  ANDREW  MONROE. 

"Fayette,  Mo.,  June  5,  1861. 

"The  undersigned  do  most  cordially  approve  the 
above  proposition,  and  earnestly  recommend  its  observ 
ance  throughout  the  State. 

"JOSEPH  BOYLE, 

"E.  M.  MARVIN, 

«H.  S.  WATTS, 

"  P.   M.  PlNCKARD. 

"St.  Louis,  Mo.,  June  12,  1861. 

In  compliance  with  this  recommendation  the  churches 
of  the  State  were  generally  well  filled  with  devout  wor 
shipers,  and  the  prayers  of  tens  of  thousands  of  earnest 
Christia'ns  ascended  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts  that  his  anger 
might  be  turned  away,  that  "our  country — our  whole 
country" — might  be  spared  the  further  calamities  of  war, 
and  that  "we  might  lead  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  in 
all  godliness  and  honesty." 

These  public  calls  to  "humiliation,  supplication  and 
prayer"  were  frequent  in  occurrence  and  general  and 
fervent  in  response;  and  the  unpolitical  ministry  in 
those  days  presented  a  spectacle  of  touching  moral 
sublimity,  in  their  fidelity  to  the  Church  and  their  un 
selfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of  peace  and  righteousness 
in  the  midst  of  universal  strife  and  war,  that  deserved 
a  higher  consideration  and  a  better  fate,  while  it  pre 
pared  them  for  the  scenes  of  suffering  and  the  thrones 
of  martyrdom  that  yet  awaited  them  in  the  not  distant 
future. 


150  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

It  has  not  escaped  the  observant,  however,  that  the 
ministers  who  committed  themselves  and  their  pulpits 
to  the  purposes  and  prosecution  of  the  war  had  more 
days  of  feasting  than  fasting;  more  seasons  of  glorifica- 
cation  than  humiliation;  more  days  of  thanksgiving 
than  supplication;  more  banners  and  bonfires  than 
confessions  of  sin  and  prayers  for  peace.  If  any  of 
them  observed  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation  and  prayer 
in  the  proper  spirit,  during  the  whole  war  in  Missouri, 
the  fact  has  wholly  escaped  the  author's  mind.  Their 
prayers,  for  the  most  part,  consisted  in  "  breathing  out 
threatenings  and  slaughter,"  and  in  inflaming  the  dan 
gerous  passions  of  men  by  the  most  unblushing  blas 
phemies  and  the  most  envenomed  imprecations. 

The  scenes  and  services  which  dishonored  the  gospel 
and  disgraced  the  pulpits  and  those  who  occupied  them 
in  certain  quarters  during  the  war  can  not  now  be  re 
called  without  the  most  painful  sense  of  humiliation  and 
shame.  It  would  be  an  outrage  upon  public  decency 
and  taste  to  reproduce  even  the  best  specimens  of  them 
in  these  pages.  We  have  oblivion  for  the  facts  and 
pity  for  the  fanatics;  and  if  a  faithful  record  of  the  sad 
history  we  have  made  should  require  any  further  allu 
sion  to  such  scenes,  it  will  be  made  with  mingled  shame 
and  commisseration. 

"While  the  ministers  in  Missouri  were  striving  man 
fully  and  humbly  to  allay  the  bitterness  of  strife  by 
frequent  calls  to  public  humiliation  and  prayer,  and  by 
wise  and  godly  counsels  of  peace  and  quietness,  design 
ing  men  who  had  left  the  State,  and  some  even  who 
remained  in  the  State,  were  at  work,  through  the  differ 
ent  media  of  reaching  the  public  mind,  trying  to  arouse 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  151 

the  suspicions  and  inflame  the  passions  of  those  in  power 
against  the  only  real  "peace-makers"  in  the  State. 
Specimen  extracts  have  already  been  given  from  the 
Central  Advocate  of  Missouri,  and  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  insert  one  from  the  Western  Christian  Advocate, 
of  Cincinnati,  of  June  12,  1861 : 

"'  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH/  MISSOURI. 

"  We  had  a  call  from  Mr.  John  Stearns,  late  a  resident 
of  Miller  county,  Mo.  He  was  formerly  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  but  for  some  years  had  resided  in  Missouri,  and 
has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  over  thirty-five 
years.  He  gave  us  the  names  of  two  of  his  neighbors 
who  had  been  hung  for  their  Union  sentiments,  and  for 
beino;  members  of  the  ' so-called'  Northern  Methodist 

O 

Church.  The  leaders  of  the  mob  hanging  these  men 
were  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  Mr.  Stearns 
says  further  that  he  was  informed  through  a  friend  that 
he  himself  was  to  be  hung  Saturday,  June  1st,  but  that 
he  defeated  the  attempt  by  escaping  the  previous  night. 
The  man  who  led  on  the  mob  of  Jefferson  City  in 
riddling  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  there,  of  which 
the  expatriated  Ecv.  Z.  S.  Weller  was  pastor,  was  the 
son  of  Claiborne  Jackson,  the  G-overnor  of  Missouri. 
Mr.  Stearns  tells  us  that  but  for  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  there  would  be  no  secessionism  in  the  State.  The 
preachers  and  members  of  that  denomination  see  that 
the  triumph  of  Unionism  is  their  death  knell,  and  hence 
the  fury  and  despair  which  characterize  their  fight." 

It  will  not  be  unkind  to  say  now  that  such  stories 
were  manufactured  to  order  and  published  for  effect. 
The  war  has  come  and  gone,  and  passion  and  prejudice 


152  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

have  been  measurably  displaced  by  peace  and  order ; 
and  yet,  to  this  day,  the  hanging  of  two  of  Mr.  Stearns7 
neighbors,  in  Miller  county,  Mo.,  has  only  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  people  of  Missouri  through  the  Western 
Christian  Advocate,  and  upon  the  authority  of  one  Mr. 
Stearns,  "  formerly  of  Pennsylvania." 

But  that  this  assertion  is  not  made  without  good 
authority,  read  the  following  extracts  from  two  letters, 
as  only  a  sample  of  many  others  on  hand  : 

"  PLEASANT  MOUNT,  Miller  Co.,  Mo.,  July  4,  '61. 

"  Mr.  Editor  :  I  see  in  your  issue  of  June  20th  a  state 
ment  from  one  Mr.  John  Stearns,  who  says  he  has  been 
a  citizen  of  Miller  county  for  some  years,  and  that  two 
of  his  neighbors  were  hung  for  their  Union  sentiments, 
and  for  being  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North ; 
that  he  himself  barely  made  his  escape  by  starting  the 
night  before. 

"Now,  as  to  the  hanging  part,  Mr.  Stearns  has  grossly 
misrepresented  the  people  of  Miller  county.  There  has 
never  been  any  person  hung  in  the  bounds  of  the 
county,  under  any  pretext  whatever,  much  less  for  their 
political  or  religious  creed  ;  and  Mr.  Stearns  knew  when 
he  made  the  statement  that  it  was  false.  In  fact,  I 
doubt  whether  there  has  ever  been  such  a  man  in  Miller 
county,  at  least  I  have  found  no  one  who  has  ever 
known  such  a  man,  and  I  have  inquired  of  the  Sheriff 
of  the  county,  and  the  Clerk  of  the  County  Court,  as 
well  as  of  a  number  of  citizens  who  have  lived  here  ever 
since  before  Miller  county  was  organized,  and  none  of 
them  have  ever  known  such  a  man  as  John  Stearns ;  and 
if  it  were  necessary  I  could  get  hundreds  of  the  most  re- 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  153 

liable  men  of  this  county  to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth 
of  the  above,  &c.,  &c. 

"(Signed)  THOMAS  J.  SMITH." 

Another  letter,  written  by  Wm.  M.  Lumpkin,  July  2, 
1861,  says : 

"  I  was  born  and  raised  in  this  (Miller)  county,  and 
can  safely  say  there  never  was  a  man  hung  in  this 
county  to  my  knowledge.  I  have  served  a  good  time 
in  this  county  in  the  capacity  of  Deputy  Circuit  and 
County  Clerk,  and  County  School  Commissioner,  and 
I  have  never  heard  of  such  a  man  before  as  Mr.  John 
Stearns,"  &c. 

The  statements  were  denied  at  the  time,  and  means  in 
stituted  to  ascertain  their  truth  or  falsity,  but  up  to  this 
time  no  information  of  such  hanging  has  come  to  light. 
But  the  article  served  its  purpose,  and,  like  one  that 
appeared  a  short  time  before  in  the  New  York  papers, 
about  the  hanging  of  a  Rev.  Mr.  White  near  St.  Charles, 
Mo.,  where  no  such  man  had  ever  been  seen,  known,  or 
heard  of,  and  many  others  of  a  similar  style,  character 
and  purpose,  it  passed  away  much  sooner  than  the  pre 
judices  and  passions  it  excited,  and  which  were  left  to 
expend  their  fury  upon  those  who  made  no  "fight," 
and  whose  "  death  knell "  was  not  heard  in  the  triumph 
of  Unionism,  except  only  as  it  was  uttered  from  the 
pulpits  and  pens  of  "false  prophets." 

About  this  time  there  was  intense  excitement  in  St. 
Louis,  especially  over  the  capture  of  Camp  Jackson, 
the  burning  of  bridges  on  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and  the 
retreat  of  Governor  Jackson  and  General  Price  from 
Jefferson  City.  This  excitement  was  greatly  increased 


154  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

by  the  soldiers  firing  into  promiscuous  crowds  of  citizens 
along  the  streets,  in  which  a  number  of  citizens,  with 
some  women  and  children,  were  killed  and  wounded ; 
and  also  the  battle  of  Boonville,  in  which  it  was  reported 
in  the  Missouri  State  Journal  and  other  papers  that  Gen. 
Lyon's  forces  had  been  badly  cut  to  pieces,  but  which 
the  knowledge  of  the  facts  afterward  modified  to  some 
extent.  The  small  engagement  between  the  Federal  and 
State  forces  at  Rock  Creek,  near  Independence,  Mo., 
about  the  same  time,  added  somewhat  to  the  general 
excitement,  which  by  this  time  had  spread  throughout 
the  State. 

Along  the  border  of  Kansas  the  people  of  the  State 
were  kept  in  constant  alarm  by  the  depredations  of 
what  were  called  at  that  time  "  Kansas  Jay  hawkers." 
Many  families  were  robbed,  houses  burned  and  preach 
ers  forced  to  fly  for  safety,  as  the  following  extract  from 
a  letter  to  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  from  the 
[Rev.  "N.  Scarritt,  a  highly  esteemed  minister  and  a  pre 
siding  elder  then  laboring  in  Kansas,  will  show : 

"In  addition  to  this,  some  of  our  preachers  in  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Conference  have  been  compelled 
to  quit  the  field  and  leave  their  work  for  the  present,  on 
account  of  the  violence  of  civil  strife  so  prevalent  in 
that  section. 

"Our  preachers  there  have  taken  no  part  in  the 
political  questions  that  are  involving  the  country  in  so 
much  trouble.  They  have  been  peaceable,  law-abiding 
citizens,  leaving  politics  alone,  and  devoting  themselves 
exclusively  to  the  peaceable  work  of  preaching  the 
peace-making  gospel  of  the  Prince  of  peace. 

"Yet,  though  this  has  been  their  known  and  acknowl- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  155 

edged  character,  it  has  not  been  sufficient  to  protect 
them  from  the  rage  of  fanaticism  and  outlawed  violence. 
Several  of  them  have  had  their  horses  stolen  from  them 
by  the  Jayhawkers.  Repeated  threats  of  hanging, 
shooting,  &c.,  have  been  made  against  them  by  the  jay- 
hawking  tribe,  though  no  attempt,  so  far  as  we  know, 
has  been  made  in  the  form  of  any  overt  act  to  execute 
these  threats." 

In  Southwest  Missouri  several  of  the  ministers  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  were  robbed  and  otherwise  mal 
treated,  amongst  them  Rev.  "W.  II.  Mobley,  now  gone 
to  rest,  and  Rev.  John  Monroe,  one  of  the  oldest  minis 
ters  of  any  Church  in  Missouri.  These  occurrences 
began  to  attract  attention  by  their  frequency  and 
atrocity,  and  it  was  soon  discovered  that  a  systematic 
effort  was  being  made  to  so  annoy,  and  harass,  and 
persecute  the  Southern  Methodist  ministers  that  they 
would  have  to  abandon  the  State,  and  leave  their 
churches  and  flocks  to  be  seized  and  absorbed  by  others. 

The  following  editorial  in  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advo 
cate,  of  July  25th,  indicates  but  too  plainly  the  condi 
tion  of  things  then  being  forced  upon  us  at  this  early 
period  of  the  war: 

"  Traveling  Preachers. — We  are  sad,  sad  indeed,  when 
we  think  of  the  privations  and  sufferings  of  many  of 
the  traveling  preachers  of  our  Church  in  Missouri  dur 
ing  these  troublous  times.  The  treatment  some  of  them 
have  received  has  been  severe,  not  to  say  cruel.  Bad 
men  have  sought  to  implicate  them  in  measures  with 
which  they  had  nothing  to  do,  and  have  them  annoyed 
and  distressed  merely  that  private  piques  and  personal 
animosities  might  be  gratified.  A  number  have  literally 


156  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

been  driven  from  their  work,  either  by  the  malice  of 
their  enemies  or  by  pressing  want.  Some,  it  may  be, 
have  acted  imprudently — have  become  partisans  in  the 
strifes  now  going  on,  and  thus,  in  part  at  least,  were 
the  authors  of  their  own  troubles.  We  have,  at  pre 
sent,  only  a  word  to  say.  "We  hope  that  the  preachers 
will  remain  at  their  work  as  generally  as  possible,  that 
they  will  devote  themselves  to  their  work  to  the  fullest 
possible  extent,  reproving,  exhorting,  comforting,  etc., 
with  all  long  suffering  and  kindness.  In  these  times 
we  must  all  suffer,  more  or  less,  and  let  us  suffer  with 
our  people,  and  be  sure  that  we  suffer  for  righteousness' 
sake  and  not  as  evil-doers.  God  rules,"and  they  that 
serve  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth  shall  find  him  a -very 
present  help  in  time  of  trouble." 

The  purpose  to  destroy  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  in 
Missouri,  was  not  only  formed,  but' expressed  also,  and 
the  Northern  Methodist  papers  were  then  earnestly  en 
gaged  in  the  effort  to  convince  those  in  authority,  and 
to  fasten  it  upon  the  public  mind,  that  but  for  the  South 
ern  Methodists  treason  and  rebellion  could  not  exist  in 
Missouri.  Such  declarations  as  the  following,  'taken 
from  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  of  August  7,  '61, 
were  of  weekly  publication  in  the  most  conspicuous 
places  in  their  papers,  and  industriously  circulated  in 
the  centres  of  military  power  : 

"A  Ruined  Church. — An  excellent  brother,  for  the 
present  a  local  elder  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  in 
Missouri,  under  date  of  July  27th,  writes  to  us  as  fol 
lows  :  '  I  shall  endeavor  to  advance  the  interests  of  the 
Central;  I  have  no  Christian  fellowship  with  traitors 
.and  treason.  Dr.  M' Anally  has  ruined  the  Church  in 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  157 

this  country,  and  I  hope  to  see  the  time  when  a  loyal 
Church  will  occupy  this  entire  ground/ ' 

This,  also,  may  be  of  a  piece  with  the  Gardner,  the 
Miller  and  the  Stearns  stories,  but  it  was  none  the  less 
effective  in  its  object  on  that  account;  and  the  license 
given  to  bad  men  to  commit  worse  crimes  by  such  pub 
lications  was  only  equaled  by  the  malicious  motive  that 
conceived  it,  and  its  influence  upon  the  army,  officers 
and  men. 

To  further  show  what  impressions  were  made  at 
home  and  abroad  upon  the  public  mind  by  false  publi 
cations,  let  the  following  item,  taken  from  the  Phila 
delphia  Banner  of  the  Covenant,  of  nearly  the  same  date, 
be  noted : 

"Religion  in  Missouri. — The  Baptists  in  Missouri,  the 
largest  denomination,  are  about  unanimous  in  favor  of 
secession.  The  M.  E.  Church,  South,  the  same,  with 
but  few  exceptions.  The  Presbyterians,  the  third  in 
numbers,  are  about  equally  divided.  The  M.  E.  Church, 
iN"orth,  the  fourth  in  size,  are  unanimous  and  earnest  in 
favor  of  the  Union.  Half  of  their  membership  and 
one-third  of  their  ministers  have  been  driven  from  the 
State." 

But  for  the  exceptions  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
another  paragraph  in  the  same  paper  would  reveal  the 
author  of  the  above  information.  It  is  as  follows : 

"Bev.  Mr.  Shumate,  of  Missouri,  having  been  ap 
pointed  to  the  chaplaincy  of  a  regiment,  asked  leave  of 
absence  for  a  few  days,  made  a  flying  visit  to  Indiana, 
and  returned  with  twro  companies  which  he  had  re 
cruited  for  the  regiment." 

The  papers  were  filled  with  statements  designed  to 


158  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

prejudice  the  authorities  and  the  public  against  the 
old  ministers  of  Missouri,  which  had  much  to  do  in 
bringing  upon  the  ministry  and  Church  the  peculiar 
character  of  persecution  which  distinguishes  the  history 
of  those  times.  Henceforth  the  Baptist  ministers  of 
the  State  will  have  to  share  largely  in  the  persecutions 
and  trials  of  their  less  fortunate  Southern  Methodist 
brethren,  and  not  a  few  of  the  Presbyterian  ministers 
were  implicated  in  the  same  way,  and  had  to  suffer  for 
being  in  Missouri. 

The  Missouri  Annual  Conference,  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
had  been  appointed  to  meet  in  Hannibal,  Mo.,  in  Sep 
tember,  1861,  but  on  account  of  the  general  excitement 
in  that  portion  of  the  State,  and  the  deep  prejudices 
created  by  false  statements  against  the  ministers  of  that 
Church  throughout  the  State,  it  was  deemed  by  them 
unsafe  to  attempt  to  hold  the  Conference  session  in 
Hannibal,  and  it  was  removed  to  Glasgow,  on  the  Mis 
souri  river. 

This  Conference,  by  formal  resolution,  deprecated 
the  calamities  of  civil  war,  and  affirmed  its  loyalty  to 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  and  the  Pro 
visional  Government  of  Missouri,  attended  to  its  regular 
minute  business,  with  Eev.  W.  G.  Caples  presiding  in 
the  absence  of  a  bishop,  made  the  appointments  of  the 
preachers  and  separated  to  their  several  fields  of  labor, 
all  with  as  much  dignity,  quietness  and  decorum  as  ever 
characterized  a  body  of  censecrated  divines.  Many  of 
them  met  in  Conference,  worshiped  and  wept  together 
for  the  last  time.  Before  they  could  convene  again  a 
number  of  them  had  ceased  at  once  to  suffer  and  to  live, 
and  had  gone  to  mingle  with  the  blood-washed  and 
white-robed  beyond  the  flood. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  159 

The  parting  scenes  of  the  preachers  at  this  Confer 
ence  were  truly  touching  and  solemn.  Many  of  them 
seemed  to  be  impressed  that  the  trying"  scenes  through 
which  they  were  yet  to  pass  would  not  only  "  try  men's 
souls/'  but  consign  many  of  their  bodies  to  the  grave 
and  send  their  souls  "under  the  altar."  What  names 
were  on  the  "  death  roll  "  no  one  could  divine,  and  yet 
the  general  fact  was  scarcely  concealed  from  them, 
"that  in  every  city  bonds  and  afflictions  awaited  them." 

The  St.  Louis  Annual  Conference  had  been  appointed 
to  meet  in  "VVarrensburg,  but  for  the  same  reasons  that 
influenced  the  Missouri  brethren  to  go  to  Glasgow  the 
St.  Louis  Conference  session  was  moved  to  Arrow  Rock, 
iSaline  county.  The  Conference  convened  September 
25,  1861.  After  organizing,  with  D.  A.  Leeper  in  the 
Chair  and  W.  M.  Prottsman  Secretary,  and  transact 
ing  some  little  committee  business,  the  Conference  ad 
journed  to  Waverly,  believing  that  more  preachers 
would  meet  them  there,  and  that  they  would  be  less 
likely  to  be  disturbed  in  their  deliberations.  How 
much  the  report  of  a  gunboat  coming  up  the  Missouri 
river,  or  a  military  transport  with  reinforcements  for 
the  army  at  Lexington,  influenced  this  movement  to 
Waverly,  statements  differ.  A  Methodist  Conference 
stampeded  by  a  rumor,  and  fleeing  for  very  life  across 
a  whole  county,  scattering  Bibles,  hymn  books  and 
saddle-bags  in  their  flight,  was  quite  a  novelty;  and 
whether  it  occurred  or  not  the  report  of  it  was  enough 
for  the  malicious  on  the  one  hand  and  the  mischievous 
on  the  other.  The  very  thought  of  it  was  so  novel  and 
ridiculous  that  it  inspired  some  youthful  poet  to  im 
mortalize  the  scene  in  song,  and  his  failure  was  due 


160        (  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

rather  to  the  absence  of  the  genuine  muse  than  to  the 
existence  of  some  basis  and  a  persistent  attempt  at 
clever  rhyme. 

The  author  himself  was  spared  the  novelty  and  noto 
riety  of  the  occasion  only  by  the  untimely  interference 
of  a  small  detachment  of  Colonel  Nugent's  command, 
then  posted  at  Kansas  City. 

I  had  announced  on  Sabbath  to  my  congregation  that 
I  would  start  to  Conference  the  next  day,  stating  where 
it  would  be  held,  and  about  how  long  I  expected  to  be 
absent. 

On  Monday  morning  early,  in  company  with  Mr.  H.  B. 
Conwell,  a  brother-in-law  and  a  steward  in  the  Church, 
I  started  for  Conference.  Just  as  we  were  passing  out 
of  the  city  on  the  main  road  to  Independence  we  .dis 
covered  a  small  squad  of  soldiers  riding  slowly  about 
half  a  mile  ahead  of  us.  To  avoid  molestation  and  de 
tention  we  took  a  by-road  that  would  intersect  the 
Westport  and  Independence  road,  on  reaching  which 
we  discovered  the  soldiers  still  ahead  of  us,  and  began 
at  once  to  conjecture  some  designs  upon  us.  They  had 
halted  by  a  peach  orchard  and  were  helping  themselves 
when  we  drove  up.  They  very  politely  gave  us  of  their 
peaches  and  requested  us  not  to  go  ahead  of  them. 

We  traveled  on  behind  them  for  some  distance,  when 
the  officer  in  command  stopped  to  talk  with  a  farmer  by 
the  road  side  who  knew  me  well,  and  asked  when  we 
drove  up  if  I  was  on  my  way  to  Conference. 

a  What  Conference  '?"  asked  the  officer. 

"  The  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  at  Ar 
row  Kock,"  I  replied,  quite  indifferently. 

"  What,  that  secesh  concern  ?     I'll  see  to  that.     No 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  161 

such  body  of  traitors  can  meet  in  this  State."  And  with 
the  last  words  ho  spurred  his  horse  up  with  his  com 
mand  and  detailed  four  men  to  put  us  under  arrest  and 
guard  us  to  Independence. 

With  "two  behind  and  two  before"  we  were  ordered 
to  "drive."  Thus  wo  traveled  until  we  reached  Bock 
Creek,  two  miles  from  Independence,  when  an  orderly 
was  sent  back  who  dismounted  and  ordered  us  to 
"halt." 

"I  want  you  men  to  get  out  of  this,"  he  said. 

"  For  what,"  I  asked,  mildly  protesting  against  the- 
proceedings. 

"  I  want  to  send  this  buggy  and  horse  back  to  camp/' 
he  replied.  "  We  have  use  for  such  things  sometimes 
to  ride  our  wives  and  children  out  a  little." 

""Where  is  your  camp  ?"  was  asked  by  Mr.  Conwell, 
at  the  same  time  declaring  that  the  horse  and  buggy 
belonged  to  him.  And  when  informed  that  their  camp 
was  in  Kansas  City,  at  Col.  Nugent's  headquarters,  he 
asked — 

"Then  why  can't  you  send  us  back  to  Kansas  City  in 
the  buggy,  under  guard  if  you  like  ?  We  live  in  Kansas 
City." 

"]STo,"  said  he;  "no  use  talking.  If  you  are  loyal 
men  you  can  afford  to  walk  ten  miles  for  the  sake  of 
the  Government;  and  if  you  are  disloyal,  we  are  not 
round  hauling  rebels.  Get  out  I" 

We  did  not  wait  for  another  invitation,  but  got  out } 
and  when  we  found  that  it  was  not  us  but  our's  they 
wanted  we  felt  somewhat  relieved,  took  a  luncheon  to 
stay  the  appetite,  and  then  the  roof  of  the  stage  an  hour 
after,  which  safely  landed  us  back  whence  we  started. 


162  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Mr.  Conwell  soon  obtained  his  horse  and.  buggy,  and 
a  message  to  me,  that  if  I  would  stay  at  home  and  at 
tend  to  my  own  business  I  would  not  be  molested ;  but 
it  would  not  be  well  for  me  to  make  another  attempt  to 
go  to  Conference. 

The  preachers  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis  and  in  South 
east  Missouri  could  not  reach  the  Conference.  The 
session  was  short,  the  minute  business  only  receiving 
attention,  and  the  presiding  elders  left  to  make  the  best 
disposition  of  the  preachers  in  their  respective  districts 
that  the  circumstances  would  allow.  The  preachers 
separated  to  their  several  homes  and  fields  of  labor  with 
about  the  same  feelings  and  in  about  the  same  spirit 
that  characterized  the  parting  scenes  at  Glasgow  two 
weeks  before.  Many  of  them  to  pass  through  scenes 
of  trial;  persecution,  suffering,  desolation,  blood,  and 
fire,  and  death,  ere  another  Conference  could  be  held. 

Looking  back  now  upon  those  perilous  times,  it  is 
"  marvelous  in  our  eyes  "  how  that  these  faithful  men  of 
God  "endured  hardness  as  good  soldiers,"  "not  counting 
their  lives  dear  unto  themselves  so  that  they  might 
finish  their  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry  which  they 
had  received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God."  The  history  of  the  Church  fur 
nishes  few  such  instances  of  moral  heroism,  as  these  men 
exhibited,  even  in  that  early  period  of  the  war  troubles; 
and  when,  afterward,  the  Baptists,  Presbyterians  and 
Catholic  priests  became  our  fellow-sufferers,  and  aug 
mented  our  moral  strength,  the  moral  heroism  was 
complete,  sublime.  The  spirit  of  consecration  to  Christ 
and  his  cause  was  equal  to  the  extremest  perils  of  pro 
perty,  health  and  life. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  163 


CHAPTER   X. 

PILLAGE,  PLUNDER,   BLACK-MAIL MURDER    OF    THE    REV.    J. 

FEWEL — 3,050  NEW  ENGLAND  CLERGYMEN. 

Indiscriminate  Robbery,  Pillage,  Arson  and  Murder— Banditti  and 
Revenge — Black-Mail  and  Espionage — Panic,  Depopulation  and 
Plunder — Demoralization — Virtue  Sacrificed — Some  who  Would 
not  Bow  the  Knee  to  Moloch — God  had  an  Altar  and  Israel  a 
Priest — Persecution,  Arrest  and  Imprisonment  of  Revs.  J.  Ditzler, 
J.  B.  H.  Wooldridge  and  D.  J.  Marquis — Many  others  Suffered 
in  Like  Manner — Rev.  James  Fewel  Arrested,  "Cruelly  Treated, 
and  Died  from  the  Effects  of  Inhuman  Treatment,  aged"  Seventy- 
two  Years — Many  such  Victims — The  True  Office  and  Work  of 
the  Ministry — Its  Spirit  and  Mission — Any  Departure  Unsettles 
the  Public  Mind — A  Sad  Day  for  the  Country,  Church  and  State 
— Relations  and  Dependencies — Three  Thousand  and  Fifty  New 
England  Clergymen  Before  Congress — A  Solemn  Protest  and  its 
Effects — Then  and  Now — Ecclesiastical  Bodies  on  the  "State  of 
the  Country" — Ecclesiastical  Bummers  —  A  Settled  Policy  to 
Drive  the  Old  Ministers  out  of  the  State  —  General  Halleck's 
Order. 

The  events  of  1861  had  a  very  decided  moral  effect 
upon  the  public  mind.  Several  severe  battles  were 
fought  in  the  State  during  the  year,  and  the  armies  and 
armed  bodies  of  men  were  largely  recruited.  Men 
who,  at  the  first,  had  no  thought  of  entering  either 
army  found  themselves  forced,  by  circumstances,  to 
take  up  arms  in  what  was,  by  construction,  called  self- 
defense — that  is,  by  constant  annoyance  from  armed 
men,  by  harassing  fears,  from  threats  and  rumors  of 
mischief  to  person  and  property,  frequent  arrests,  pil 
lage,  plunder,  etc.,  many  a  peaceable,  quiet,  orderly  citi 
zen  was  tormented  into  the  necessity  of  taking  up  arms. 

Armed  bands  appeared  in  every  part  of  the  State — 


164  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

some  on  one  side  and  some  on  the  other,  some  with 
authority  and  some  without,  but  all  subsisting  as  they 
could,  and  but  few  caring  how.  These  bands,  many  of 
which  were  irresponsible  brigands  and  marauders, 
usually  "foraged"  on  the  citizens  wThose  sympathies 
were  on  the  opposite  side.  They  did  not  always  stop 
at  the  necessary  supplies  for  subsistence,  but  were  rob 
bers  of  houses,  and  many  of  them  indiscriminate  and 
general  thieves,  taking  horses,  mules,  cattle,  wagons, 
corn,  hay,  flour,  bacon,  fruit,  blankets,  quilts,  feather 
beds,  carpets,  clothing  of  every  kind,  from  elegant 
silks,  furs  and  shawls  to  children's  shoes  and  toys ; 
money,  watches  and  jewelry  were  often  taken  from  the 
persons  of  ladies.  These  highwaymen  would  often  put 
the  torch  to  dwelling  houses  at  night  and  take  a  fiendish 
pleasure  in  seeing  the  awakened  inmates  make  their 
escape  or  perish  in  the  flames.  Men  were  shot  down  by 
them  on  the  highway,  in  the  fields,  the  woods  and  at 
the  doors  of  their  houses  as  though  life  was  of  little 
value,  and  its  appreciation  was  about  equal  to  the  effect 
of  one  bootless,  midnight  murder  upon  the  great  ques 
tion  of  Union  or  division.  At  all  events,  after  the 
battle  of  Lexington,  September  21,  1861,  and  the  rapid 
movements  of  armies  which  followed,  human  life  was  at 
the  caprice  of  the  armed  banditti  that  multiplied  so 
rapidly  over  the  State. 

Many  defenseless  citizens  suffered  such  indignities 
and  insults  from  them,  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  all  they 
had  on  earth,  that  they  fled  to  the  army  for  protection, 
or  to  the  brush  and  banded  together  for  revenge.  Men, 
whose  houses  were  destroyed,  and  whose  wives,  and 
daughters,  and  sisters  had  been  worse  than  insulted  by 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  165 

inhuman  ruffians,  swore  the  direst  vengeance,  and  with 
unsparing  recklessness  scattered  desolation  and  death 
in  their  tortuous  track.  For  their  deeds  military  com 
manders  of  posts  would  hold  defenseless  communities 
responsible,  levy  black-mail  upon  them,  sometimes  to 
the  full  value  of  their  property,  and  institute  a  system 
of  espionage  that  would  put  an  eavesdropper  under 
nearly  every  man's  window  and  a  detective  in  every 
social  circle  and  public  assembly.  Property  and  life 
were  thus  put  at  the  mercy  of  unprincipled  detectives 
and  spies,  selected  often  from  the  lowest  and  most  un 
scrupulous  classes  of  men  and  women.  With  such  a 
system  of  military  despotism  no  man's  life  was  safe, 
and  indeed  many  men  were  accused,  arrested,  impris 
oned,  tried,  convicted  and  put  to  death  without  ever 
knowing  the  charges  against  them. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conjecture  the  effect  of  this  state 
of  things  upon  the  public  mind.  To  say  that  the  people 
in  some  whole  counties  along  the  borders  of  Iowa  and 
Kansas  were  seized  with  panic  and  consternation  is  not 
more  than  the  truth.  Men  and  families  broke  up,  and 
taking  what  they  could  with  convenience  and  safety  fled 
for  life  and  protection,  some  North,  some  South,  some 
to  Canada,  some  to  California,  some  to  the  army,  some 
to  the  large  cities,  and  some  to  the  brush.  Some  men 
ordered  and  some  frightened  their  neighbors  away,  and 
then,  to  furnish  them  means  to  travel,  bought  their 

/  /  O 

stock  and  lands  at  a  nominal  price — in  some  instances 
for  a  mere  song.  What  a  farmer,  or  mechanic,  or 
merchant  left  behind  in  his  flight  was  seized  as  lawful 
prey  by  the  first  that  found  it  and  appropriated  to 
private  use.  Indeed,  in  one  instance  a  whole  county 


166  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

was  depopulated  outside  of  the  towns,  by  military 
order,  and  devoted  to  pillage  and  plunder,  and  that  the 
third  county  of  the  State  in  population  and  wealth. 

It  was  even  worse,  if  possible,  in  the  track  of  large 
armies  and  in  those  parts  of  the  country  upon  which 
they  subsisted. 

No  part  of  the  State  suffered  more  than  the  South 
west,  extending  from  a  line  that  would  strike  Eolla, 
Sedalia  and  Fort  Scott,  in  Kansas,  to  the  State  of 
Arkansas.  Many  parts  of  that  section  of  the  State 
were  literally  laid  waste,  and  made  a  desolation  by  fire 
and  sword.  The  breath  of  war,  like  the  simoon,  swept 
over  the  country,  leaving  a  wide  waste  of  desolation  and 
death,  which  the  benignity  of  peace  and  the  hand  of 
industry  can  not  reclaim  and  rebuild  for  many  long 
years. 

To  say  that  public  sentiment  in  the  State  was  de 
moralized  by  such  scenes  before  the  end  of  1861  is  an 
expression  too  tame  to  reflect  adequately  the  real  fact. 
The  moral  forces  of  society  were  paralyzed,  social 
restraints  were  broken  down,  and  even  religious  charac 
ter  was  powerless  either  for  protection  or  public  good. 
The  old  standards  of  virtue,  integrity,  honesty  and 
right  principle  were  borne  down  and  swept  away,  and 
men  became  reckless  of  the  laws  of  God  and  man.  In 
the  fury  and  fire  of  partisan  strife,  and  amid  the  familiar 
scenes  of  blood  and  death,  men  trampled  upon  right, 
crucified  truth,  murdered  innocence,  loved  vengeance, 
despised  virtue,  abandoned  principle,  forgot  their  loves, 
left  their  dead  unburied  and  their  buried  uncoifined,  and 
hung  upon  the  bloody  war  path  like  avenging  furies. 

In  the  midst  of  such  fearful  and  wide-spread  demoral- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  167 

ization  God  preserved  only  a  few  thousand  who  would 
not  bow  the  knee  to  the  bloody  Moloch.  Israel  was 
not  without  an  altar,  and  the  altar  was  not  without  an 
acceptable  sacrifice;  but  the  spirit  of  anti-Christ  seemed 
the  more  embittered  and  enraged  by  that  fact,  and  the 
persecution  became  more  general  and  unrelenting 
throughout  the  State. 

Many  congregations  of  quiet  worshipers  were  dis 
persed;  many  societies  were  broken  up  and  scattered; 
many  churches  were  burned,  and  many  ministers  ar 
rested,  silenced  or  banished — not  in  the  cities  so  much 
as  in  the  country. 

Amongst  the  first  arrests  was  that  of  the  Rev.  J.  Ditzler. 

In  1860  and  '61  Eev.  J.  Ditzler  was  stationed  in  Jef 
ferson  City,  in  charge  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  He 
was  also  chaplain  to  the  lower  House  of  the  General 
Assembly. 

After  Governor  Jackson  and  General  Price  had 
evacuated  the  State  capital  and  the  United  States  forces 
under  General  Lyon  had  taken  possession,  Mr.  Ditzler 
remained  as  a  non-combatant,  supposing  that  he  would 
not  be  molested.  In  this  he  was  mistaken.  He  was 
not  allowed  long  to  remain  in  his  quiet  study  at  the 
Ferguson  House  or  to  attend  to  his  pastoral  duties. 
An  "orderly,"  with  a  guard  of  seven  men,  called  on  him 
at  the  Ferguson  House,  arrested  and  marched  him 
through  the  city,  and  put  him  with  others  in  an  old 
meat  (smoke)  house.  He  was  taunted  and  sneered  at 
by  his  guard — the  Dutch — through  the  cracks  of  the  old 
log  house.  Mr.  Ditzler  talked  back  at  them  in  German, 
Italian,  Spanish,  French,  Greek  and  Hebrew,  quoting 
freely  from  Schiller,  Goethe  and  other  German  authors 


168  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

of  note,  for  his  own  relief  and  their  amusement,  until 
he  was  reported  to  Col.  Boernstein,  Post  Commander, 
and  by  him  unconditionally  released,  solely  upon  liter 
ary  grounds.  No  charges  were  preferred  against  him, 
nor  could  he  ever. find  out  why  lie  was  imprisoned.  His 
father  fought  at  Tippecanoe,  in  1812,  and  his  grand 
father  at  Yalley  Forge,  under  "Washington,  and  this 
treatment  was  not  borne  without  some  little  indigna 
tion. 

Brigadier-General  Brown  succeeded  Col.  Boernstein, 
and  Mr.  Ditzler  was  apprised  of  the  purpose  to  re-arrest 
him.  He  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  flee,  and  ac 
cordingly  took  the  train  late  Saturday  night  for  St. 
Louis;  and  at  noon  the  next  day  (Sabbath)  a  posse  of 
ten  armed  soldiers  entered  his  church  to  arrest  him,  but 
he  was  gone.  They  followed  him  to  St.  Louis  only  to 
find  that  he  had  taken  a  train  on  the  Ohio  and  Missis 
sippi  Railroad  and  made  his  escape. 

The  Rev.  J.  B.  H.  Wooldridge,  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Mar 
quis,  and  other  ministers,  were  arrested  and  imprisoned 
about  the  same  time,  and  without  cause.  Indeed,  it 
became  so  common  for  ministers  to  be  arrested  that  by 
the  last  of  the  year  1861  it  ceased  to  be  a  matter  of  sur 
prise  to  any.  The  only  novelty  was  in  finding  a  minister 
out  of  the  army  who  had  not  been  arrested  by  one  party 
or  the  other,  and  the  most  that  could  be  hoped  wTas  that 
life  and  liberty  to  non-political  and  non-juring  ministers 
would  be  exceptional. 

If  he  lived  out  of  the  track  of  large  armies,  he  would 
not  escape  the  marauding  bands ;  and  if  his  home  should 
be  so  secluded  and  retired  that  he  could  not  be  reached 
by  the  public  highway,  or  easily  found,  there  were  al- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  169 

ways  unprincipled  men  in  every  neighborhood  who,  to 
seek  revenge,  gain  favor  with  the  authorities,  or  to  make 
an  opportunity  to  pillage  and  plunder  from  the  sheer 
love  of  it,  would  go  to  the  nearest  military  post,  inform 
on  the  quiet  " parson/'  and  volunteer  their  services  to 
guide  the  ruffian  soldiers  to  the  home  of  the  innocent 
victim.  From  such  causes  many  an  innocent  man  suf 
fered  both  in  property  and  person. 

"When  ministers  of  the  gospel  happened  to  fall  into 
the  hands  of  regular  army  officers  or  those  lawless 
brigands  they  were  treated  with  a  severity  and  cruelty 
that  was  not  often  visited  upon  others,  and  which  indi 
cated  with  alarming  certainty  the  policy  that  would  be 
pursued  toward  the  enemies  of  all  unrighteousness. 

Amongst  the  many  instances  of  cruelt}7  to  ministers 
of  the  gospel  who  had  committed  no  offense  whatever 
against  the  peace  and  dignity  of  the  State,  it  is  sufficient 
here  to  mention  the  <iase  of  the  Rev.  James  Fewel. 

This  venerable  servant  of  the  regular  Baptist  Church, 
who  had  lived  and  labored  in  Henry  county,  Mo.,  for 
many  years — known,  respected  and  honored  as  a  peace 
able,  upright,  good  and  useful  citizen — was  found  and 
arrested  near  his  own  residence  and  taken  off  as  a  poli 
tical  prisoner  to  Sedalia,  thence  to  St.  Louis,  where  he 
lay  in  prison  more  than  a  month,  and  until  death  came 
to  his  relief. 

His  death  was  due  solely  to  the  cruel  treatment  he 
received  from  his  captors  and  persecutors.  He  had 
never  taken  up  arms  against  his  country,  had  never 
committed  a  crime  of  any  sort — not  even  what  irrespon 
sible  persons  call  treason — and  had  never  been  engaged 
in  lawless  acts  of  any  kind  ;  but,  then,  he  was  a  minis- 


170  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ter  of  the  gospel,  and  the  parties  who  arrested  him,  and 
those  who  afterward  guarded  him,  had  commiseration 
neither  for  his  profession  nor  gray  hairs.  He  lacked 
only  three  days  of  heing  seventy-two  years  old  when 
he  died. 

He  was  arrested  by  Capt.  Foster's  company  of  Col. 
Hubbard's  regiment,  Missouri  State  Militia,  in  the  latter 
part  of  December,  1861,  near  his  own  residence,  in  Henry 
county.  The  weather  was  cold,  and  when  the  old  man 
found  that  he  would  be  taken  off  he  begged  permission 
to  go  to  his  house  for  more  and  warmer  clothing.  This 
was  refused  him.  He  then  asked  the  natural  privilege 
of  sending  a  message  to  his  aged  companion,  to  inform 
her  of  his  condition  and  obtain  at  least  a  blanket  to  pro 
tect  him  from  the  weather.  Even  this  poor  boon  was 
denied  the  old  man,  and  he  was  torn  from  his  home  and 
hurried  away  to  Sedalia.  The  weather  turned  bitterly 
cold,  and  the  freezing  December  blasts  swept  mercilessly 
Across  the  extended  prairie  the  livelong  night,  while 
this  old  man  was  kept  in  an  open  railroad  car,  shelter 
less,  bedless,  blanketless  and  comfortless.  His  very 
prayers  and  tears  seemed  to  freeze  on  the  chilly  night 
air  as  he  thought  of  home  and  his  long  years  spent  in 
the  service  of  God  for  the  good  of  his  race.  But  he  had 
to  suffer  this  cruel  treatment  and  trust  the  G-od  of 
Elijah  to  prepare  him  for  what  was  still  in  store  for 
him.  The  morrow  came,  and  with  it  still  further  and 
severer  trials.  The  weather  did  not  moderate,  neither 
did  the  severity  of  his  persecutors.  With  others  he  was 
placed  in  a  common  stock  car  and  sent  to  St.  Louis. 
With  no  better  protection,  no  better  accommodations, 
than  the  horned  beasts  who  had  been  temporarily  dis- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  171 

placed  by  them,  and  even  with  insufficient  supplies  of 
food,  they  were  kept  traveling  and  stopping  all  that 
day  and  night.  Chilled  through  and  through,  hungry 
and  half  dead,  this  old  man  reached  St.  Louis  and  was 
hurried  off  to  the  military  prison,  in  which  he  soon  fell 
a  victim  to  pneumonia,  and  lingered — without  accusa 
tion,  without  trial,  and  without  even  permission  to  be 
seen  by  his  friends — until  February  1, 1862,  when  death 
came  to  his  release  and  found  him  ready  to  "depart and 
be  with  Christ,  which  was  far  better." 

If  any  charges  were  ever  preferred  against  him  they 
never  came  to  light. 

This  is  only  one  of  the  many  instances  of  cruelty  that 
occurred  during  the  latter  part  of  this  year,  in  which 
ministers  of  the  gospel  were  persecuted  and  imprisoned, 
and  some  of  them  died  of  their  treatment,  not  because 
they  had  been  in  rebellion,  or  because  they  were  trying 
to  save  the  Union,  but  because  they  were  ministers 
trying  to  save  the  souls  of  men. 

We  have  been  accustomed  to  look  upon  ministers  of 
the  gospel  as  the  divinely  commissioned  ambassadors 
of  Heaven,  sent  forth  with  a  dispensation  of  the  gospel 
of  peace,  preaching  "  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,"  and 
(t  praying  men  in  Christ's  stead  to  be  reconciled  to  God;" 
that  their  one  work  was  to  preach  the  gospel,  build 
churches,  devise  ways  and  means  for  the  furtherance  of 
the  kingdom  of  grace,  project  schemes  for  the  enlarge 
ment  of  the  borders  of  Zion  and  for  the  diffusion  of  the 
power  and  spirit  of  Christianity ;  to  plant  the  gospel 
standard  where  it  is  not,  and  build  up  the  waste  places; 
to  do  the  most  possible  good  to  the  greatest  number, 
and  to  do  this  work  of  love  in  the  spirit  of  the  divine 


172  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

Master,  by  "being  an  example  of  the  believers,  in  word;| 
in  conversation,  in  charity,  in  spirit,  in  faith,  in  purity,"; 
"by  pureness,  by  knowledge,  by  long-suffering,  by- 
kindness,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  love  unfeigned."  In 
this  way  and  in  this  spirit  to  spread  "scriptural  holi 
ness  over  these  lands,"  and  promote  "peace  on  earth 
and  good  will  to  men."  These  ideas  of  the  spirit  and 
work  of  the  gospel  ministry  have  become  so  deeply 
rooted  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  so  thoroughly  inter 
woven  with  their  thoughts,  that  any  departure  from 
that  work  as  thus  understood  creates  surprise,  suspicion 
and  distrust  in  the  public  mind. 

When  ecclesiastical  bodies  assemble  it  is  assumed  that 
they  meet  to  deliberate  upon  the  legitimate  interests  of 
the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ — how  that  form  of  it  com 
mitted  to  them  may  be  made  more  efficient  in  bringing 
men  to  a  saving  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  Head 
of  the  Church,  and  how  their  plans  and  polity  may  be 
improved  and  vitalized. 

It  was  a  sad  day  for  this  country  when  the  gospel 
ministry  first  departed  from  this  work  and  began  to 
legislate  upon  questions  purely  secular  and  political; 
and  if  our  free  government  should  ever  be  broken  up 
and  our  free  institutions  destroyed — if  our  religious 
liberties  should  ever  pass  away,  and  a  political  and 
ecclesiastical  despotism  be  established  in  this  land — the 
philosophic  historian  of  the  future,  whose  melancholy 
task  it  will  be  to  chronicle  the  "decline  and  fall"  of  the 
greatest  republic  of  the  world,  will  linger  with  painful 
interest  upon  that  sad  event  as  the  beginning  of  the 
^catastrophe. 

The  separate   but  mutually  dependent  relations  of 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  173 

Church  and  State,  the  support  of  the  Church  and  her 

ministry  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  people, 

liberty  of  thought  and  speech,  the  freedom  of  worship 

and  the  rights  of  conscience,  are  almost  peculiar  to  our 

ountry  and  form  of  government.     In  these  things  our 

institutions  are  distinct  from,  and  in  contrast  with,  the 

Ihurch  establishments  and  ecclesiastical  hierarchies  of 

Europe  and  Asia. 

They  constitute  the  soul  and  centre  of  our  free  Be- 
publican  government.  The  very  genius  of  our  institu 
tions  resides  in  them,  and  the  aegis  of  liberty  shields 
and  protects  them.  The  State  may  not  restrict  or  control 
them,  and  the  Church  dare  not  intermeddle  with  the 
affairs  of  State. 

The  two  may  exist  together,  but  can  never  coalesce. 
They  must  be  distinct  and  separate  in  their  laws,  their 
government,  their  administration,  their  spirit,  their 
agencies  and  their  objects,  while  they  have  the  same- 
subjects.  So  long  have  Church  and  State  existed  sepa 
rately  in  this  country,  and  so  widely  different  in  their 
spirit,  agencies  and  objects,  that  it  is  both  natural  and 
philosophical  for  the  public  mind  to  be  disturbed  and 
alarmed  by  every  attempt  of  the  one  to  intermeddle 
with  the  legitimate  affairs  of  the  other. 

Few  events  in  the  history  of  this  country  caused 
greater  alarm  for  our  peace  and  safety  in  the  minds  of 
reflecting  men  than  the  appearance  before  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  of  three  thousand  and  fifty  clergy 
men  of  New  England  in  the  following  protest  against 
the  passage  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  in  1854  : 
ee  To  the  Honorable,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representa 
tives,  in  Congress  assembled : 


174  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

"  The  undersigned,  clergymen  of  different  religious 
denominations  in  New  England,  hereby,  in  the  name  of 
Almighty  God  and  in  his  presence,  do  solemnly  pro 
test  against  the  passage  of  what  is  known  as  the 
Nebraska  bill,  or  any  repeal  or  modification  of  the  ex 
isting  legal  prohibitions  of  slavery  in  that  part  of  our 
national  domain  which  it  is  proposed  to  organize  into 
the  Territories  of  Nebraska  and  Kansas.  "VYe  protest 
against  it  as  a  great  moral  wrong,  as  a  breach  of  faith 
eminently  unjust  to  the  moral  principles  of  the  com 
munity,  and  subversive  of  all  confidence  in  national 
engagements;  as  a  measure  full  of  danger  to  the  peace 
and  even  the  existence  of  our  beloved  Union,  and  ex 
posing  us  to  the  righteous  judgments  of  the  Almighty  : 
and  your  protestants,  as  in  duty  bound,  will  ever  pray. 

"Boston,  Massachusetts,  March  1,  1854*" 

This  pretentious  protest — "in  the  name  of  Almighty 
God  " — was  the  first  open  and  bold  attempt  of  the  clergy 
in  this  country  to  influence  national  legislation  j  and 
while  Messrs.  Mason,  Douglass  and  others  in  the  United 
States  Senate  administered  to  these  officious  clergymen 
a  severe  rebuke  for  thus  intermeddling  with  the  affairs 
of  the  National  Government,  good  men  were  justly 
alarmed  for  the  result,  and  the  whole  country  was  ap 
palled  by  this  bold  advance  of  the  Church  toward  the 
control  of  the  affairs  of  the  State. 

Then  the  finest  model  of  ecclesiastical  polity  in  the 
world  trembled  and  the  wisest  frame  work  of  civil  gov 
ernment  felt  the  shock.  Then  the  work  of  our  fathers 
— combining  the  wisdom  of  the  ages  and  the  religion 
of  the  gospel  in  one  grand  structure  of  civil  and  re 
ligious  liberty — the  glory  of  Washington,  the  pride  of 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  175 

•every  American,  the  dread  of  tyrants  and  the  admira 
tion  of  the  world,  began  to  reel  upon  its  throne  and 
totter  to  its  fall.  Then  the  deadly  virus  was  injected, 
and  the  veins  and  arteries  of  national  life  carried  the 
poison  to  every  part  of  the  body  politic,  and  from  that 
day  forth  "  death  was  in  the  pot."  Then  the  axe  was 
laid  at  the  root  of  the  fair  tree  of  liberty,  whose  roots 
had  been  fastened  deep  in  the  national  heart,  and  whose 
branches  already  spread  over  a  continent  and  toward 
heaven,  under  which  the  oppressed  of  every  nation 
found  shelter,  and  the  down-trodden  of  every  clime 
sought  repose,  peace,  liberty  and  life.  Then  the  re 
ligious  and  political  waters  mingled,  and  the  whole 
stream  of  national  life  was  corrupted  and  hastened  on 
in  turbulent  commotion  to  the  " blood,  and  fire,  and 
vapor  of  smoke  "  of  '61. 

Ministers  contented  themselves  then  with  a  firm  and 
solemn  protest;  they  afterward  made  imperious  de 
mands.  They  sought  then  to  prevent  the  enactment  of 
"  a  measure  fall  of  danger  to  the  peace  and  even  the 
existence  of  the  Union  ; "  they  afterward  demanded,  in 
the  name  of  Almighty  God,  the  enactment  of  laws,  the 
conduct  of  the  war,  the  election  of  men  to  office,  the 
success  of  party  measures,  manhood  suffrage,  and  any 
other  purely  political  matter,  as  though  the  union  of 
Church  and  State  was  an  accomplished  fact  and  they 
were  the  constituted  vice-regents  to  supervise  and  con 
trol  the  legislation  of  the  country. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war,  and  during  its  continu 
ance,  when  ecclesiastical  bodies  met,  about  the  gravest 
matter  before  them  for  deliberation  was  the  "  State  of 
the  Country,"  and  how  they  could  deliver  themselves 


176  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

so  as  to  effect  in  any  particular  direction  either  the 
course  of  Congress,  political  elections  or  the  movement 
of  armies.  This  was  true  in  an  eminent  degreee  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  the  Presbyterian  Church  (Old  and  New 
School),  Congregational,  Unitarian,  and  some  Baptist 
associations  of  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States. 

Nor  were  these  deliverances  confined  to  the  larger 
representative  Bodies  of  these  Churches,  but  the  primary 
church  courts,  ministers'  associations,  conventions  and 
Conferences  made  themselves  conspicuous  by  such  un 
wise  interference  with  matters  purely  secular  and 
political. 

Secret  conclaves  were  held  in  Missouri  by  ministers 
and  others  professing  to  be  disciples  of  Christ,  in  which 
plans  were  devised  and  projected  to  persecute,  by  pro 
scription,  robbery,  arrests,  imprisonment  and  confisca 
tion,  if  not  by  means  still  severer,  ministers  of  the  gos 
pel  in  this  State  who  would  not  stultify  themselves  nor 
disgrace  their  profession  by  falling  in  with  them  and 
joining  the  hue  and  cry  for  blood  and  death. 

Consultations  were  had  and  schemes  devised  by 
which  the  military  authorities  could  be  used  to  oppress 
and  persecute  ministers  whose  loyalty  was  questioned 
by  these  politico-ecclesiastics,  and  whose  only  crime- 
was  that  they  possessed  property  and  stood  high  in  the* 
confidence  of  the  people  whom  they  had  served  faith 
fully  for  many  years. 

Revolutions  never  go  backward,  and  it  was  a  part  of 
the  forward  movement  of  these  scheming  adventurers 
who  followed  the  army  to  keep  out  of  danger,  and 
who  served  post  and  field  commanders  as  volunteer 
aids  for  the  uses  they  could  make  of  them  in  taking 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  177 

possession  of  churches,  persecuting  and  running  off 
ministers  and  foisting  another  ministry  on  the  people. 

It  was  a  settled  purpose  to  drive  the  old  ministers  out 
of  the  State.  Those  who  had  planted  the  Church  and 
grown  up  with  her  institutions,  and  whose  long  and  use 
ful  lives  were  identified  with  the  early  and  heroic  his 
tory  of  the  Church,  had  now  to  give  place  to  new 
comers,  whom  the  people  did  not  want,  or  yield  to  the 
pressure  of  the  new  order  of  things.  These  ecclesias 
tical  bummers  had  influence  at  military  headquarters, 
and  could  use  the  officers  of  the  army  to  accomplish 
their  purpose;  and  it  was  doubtless  through  their  in 
fluence  that  so  many  orders  were  issued  from  the  Head 
quarters  of  the  Department  of  Missouri  bearing  directly 
upon  ministers  as  a  class.  Not  enough  to  affect  them 
as  citizens  in  common  with  other  citizens,  but  as 
ministers. 

The  following  order  may  suitably  close  this  chapter: 

When  Major-Gcncral  Halleck  was  in  command  of  the 
Department  of  Missouri  he  caused  to  be  issued  an 
Order,  under  date  of  February  3,  1862,  called  "  General 
Orders  'No.  29,"  requiring  the  "President,  Professors, 
Curators  and  all  other  officers  of  the  University  of 
Missouri  to  take  and  subscribe  the  oath  of  allegiance 
prescribed  by  the  sixth  article  of  the  State  Ordinance 
of  October  16,  1861,"  or  failing  to  do  so  within  thirty 
days  their  offices  will  be  considered  vacant,  and  "in 
order  that  its  funds  should  not  be  used  to  teach  treason 
or  to  instruct  traitors,  the  authorities  of  the  University 
should  expel  from  its  walls  all  persons  who,  by  word 
or  deed,  assist  or  abet  treason." 

The  offices  of  railroad  companies,  Government  con- 
12 


178  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

tractors,  agents,  clerks  and  Government  employees,  and 
all  military  officers  were  required  to  take  either  the 
same  oath  or  the  one  prescribed  by  an  act  of  Congress, 
approved  August  6,  1861. 

This  long  military  order  closes  as  follows : 
"  Y.  It  is  recommended  that  all  clergymen,  professors 
and  teachers,  and  all  officers  of  public  and  private  insti 
tutions  for  education,  benevolence,  business  and  trade, 
and  who  are  in  favor  of  the  perpetuation  of  the  Union, 
voluntarily  to  subscribe  and  file  the  oath  of  allegiance 
prescribed  by  the  State  Ordinance  in  order  that  their 
patriotism  may  be  made  known  and  recognized,  and 
that  they  may  be  distinguished  from  those  who  wish  to 
encourage  rebellion  and  prevent  the  Government  from 
restoring  peace  and  prosperity  to  this  city  and  State/' 
Or,  in  other  words,  "mark  them  that  company  not 
with  us." 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  179 


CHAPTER   XI. 

SEIZURE   OP   CHURCHES — CHURCHES  IN  KANSAS    CITY   AND 
INDEPENDENCE. 

Church  Property — Can  the  "War  Revive  or  Create  Titles — Church 
Property  on  the  Border — Maysville,  Kentucky — Legal  Eights  of 
Property — Attainder — Honest"  Inquiry — Eighth.  Commandment — 
The  Truth  of  History — Church  in  Kansas  City— North  Methodists 
— Faithful  Ladies — 'What  was  Said  at  the  Time — Some  who  were 
with  us  Went  out  from  us — Their  loss  our  gain — Church  in  Inde 
pendence —  How  they  Got  it  and  Why  they  Kept  it  —  The 
.Former  Pastor — Why  he  left — Battle  of  "independence — "Black 
Thursday  " — A  Kev.  "James  Lee — How  he  got  Possession  of  the 
Church— Rev.  Mr.  DeMott — How  he  got  Possession  of  the  Par 
sonage — A  Poor  Widow  Turned  Out  "by  Military  Order — Strategy 
—Rev.  M.  M.  Pugh  Demands  the  Property—Why  Refused— Re 
course  to  the  Civil  Courts — Statement  of  the  Case  by  Counsel — 
Side  Scenes— Extracts  from  the  St.  Louis  Advocate— This  Pro 
perty  in  the  Statistics  of  Northern  Methodism  —  Action  of  the 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  Conferences,  M.  E.  Church,  on  the  Subject 
— Reflections. 

The  fact  has  been  stated  elsewhere  that  the  division 
of  the  Methodist  Church  in  1844  extinguished  all  right 
and  title  to  the  Church  property  in  this  State  that  in 
hered  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  North.  After  the  Missouri 
Conference  voted,  in  the  fall  of  1845,  to  adhere  South, 
and  hy  that  act  became  an  integral  part  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  according  to  the  "  Plan  of  Separation," 
the  other  wing  of  the  Church  became,  in  fact  and  in 
law,  dispossessed  of  all  the  Church  property  in  the  State. 
By  the  decree  of  the  Church  and  of  the  civil  courts  the 
right  and  title  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  to  all  species 
of  Church  property  was  so  effectually  extinguished  that 
no  claim  was  ever  set  up  and  no  effort  made  by  that 


180  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Church  to  gain  possession  of  any  church,  parsonage,  or 
other  property  in  this  State,  from  the  vote  of  the  Mis 
souri  Conference  in  1845  to  the  beginning  of  the  war 
in  1861.  That  Church  accepted  the  situation,  acquiesced 
in  the  decision,  and  yielded  her  claims  to  the  decree  of 
Missouri  Methodism. 

If  any  claim  was  ever  set  up  to  any  species  or  piece 
of  property,  or  any  suit  in  any  civil  court  was  ever  in 
stituted  to  gain  possession  of  any  property  during  this 
period  of  seventeen  years,  the  author  is  to  this  day 
ignorant  of  the  fact.  A  residence  in  the  State  of  nearly 
twenty  years  has  failed  to  bring  the  fact  to  his  knowl 
edge.  It  is,  therefore,  of  no  minor  significance  that 
these  facts  stand  in  the  records  of  history,  and  must 
enter  largely  into  the  consideration  of  subsequent  facts 
now  to  be  put  on  record.  Let  them  be  duly  considered 
and  they  will  color  with  deepest  significance  the  acts 
and  doings  of  that  Church  during  the  war. 

It  may  be  that  the  decision  of  the  Church  in  Missouri 
was  too  nearly  unanimous,  and  the  force  of  public 
opinion  was  too  strong  in  its  endorsement  of  the  Plan 
of  Separation  and  the  vote  of  the  Conference  j  and,  then, 
it  may  be  that  the  few  scattered  preachers  and  members 
whose  sympathies  were  with  the  Church,  North,  were 
in  themselves  too  feeble  at  any  given  point,  or  had  the 
sense  of  justice  and  right  too  strong  at  every  point,  to 
encourage  any  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  property 
that  rightfully  belonged  to  others.  If  their  complete 
acquiescence  can  not  be  accounted  for  upon  either  of  the 
above  hypotheses,  then  it  rests  with  the  fact  that  in 
other  States  the  rights  of  property  would  be  settled  by 
the  civil  courts ;  and  in  Missouri  they  preferred  to  await 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  181 

the  decision  of  courts  in  those  States  where  the  North 
ern  claimants  would  not  be  put  at  such  great  dis 
advantage. 

While  the  property  question  was  in  an  unsettled  state 
several  churches  along  the  border  of  Kentucky  and 
Virginia  were  put  through  the  sharpest  litigation. 

Prior  to  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  the  great  "  Church  Property  Case/' 
appeals  were  made  to  the  civil  courts  in  several  places 
to  decide  the  rights  of  property,  of  which  that  for  the 
Church  in  Maysville,  Ky.,  was  among  the  earlier  and 
most  noted. 

In  this  Church,  out  of  a  membership  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty-six,  ninety-seven  voted  to  adhere  North.  This 
minority  had  a  preacher  sent  to  them  from  Ohio  and 
sued  for  possession  of  the  Church  property.  The  case 
was  carried  to  the  State  Court  of  Appeals,  and  that  dis 
tinguished  jurist,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  in  decreeing 
that  the  property  rightfully  belonged  to  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  among  other  things,  said : 

"  There  are  now  two  distinct  Churches  in  the  place  of 
the  M.  E.  Church  of  the  United  States— the  one  the  M. 
E.  Church,  North,  the  other  the  M.  E.  Church,  South— 
these  two  differing  from  the  original  and  from  each 

O  O 

other  only  in  locality  and  extent;  each  possessing  in  its 
locality  the  entire  jurisdiction  of  the  original  Church/' 
Wherever  the  right  of  property  was  referred  in  any 
given  locality  to  the  civil  courts  the  decision  was  the 
same  as  that  above,  and  the  Northern  Methodists  of 
Missouri  acquiesced  in  the  extinguishment  of  their  right 
to  all  the  property  formerly  owned  by  the  original 


182  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

Church;  and  its  legal  confirmation  to  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South. 

Now,  it  may  well  and  significantly  be  inquired  how 
the  civil  war  of  1861  could  revive  the  title  to  property 
that  had  been  extinguished,  in  fact  and  in  law,  by  the 
will  of  its  legal  owners  in  1845?  Laws  may  be  re 
pealed,  altered  and  amended,  but  not  so  as  to  affect  the 
previous  rights  of  property.  Nothing  is  more  sacredly 
guarded  by  civil  legislation  than  the  rights  of  pro 
perty.  Laws  may  change,  but  justice  and  equity  remain 
the  same ;  and  courts  of  equity  not  ^infrequently  pro 
nounce  upon  the  equity  of  legislation  in  respect  to  the 
rights  of  property.  Hence  the  strongest  rights  are 
those  founded  both  in  law  and  equity. 

If  the  rights  of  property  were  revived  by  the  civil 
war  it  must  have  been  done  in  one  of  two  ways :  either 
by  legislation  or  attainder.  It  was  never  claimed  to 
have  been  revived  by  legislation,  which,  to  say  the  least, 
was  a  doubtful  expedient,  and  conferred  a  doubtful 
right,  if  any  at  all.  It  could  not  have  been  done  by 
attainting  the  blood  of  the  lawful  property  holders,  ex 
cept  by  due  process  of  law  and  for  cause.  This  was 
never  even  attempted. 

Then  we  fall  back  upon  the  original  inquiry,  how  the 
civil  war  revived  property  rights  that  had  been  ex 
tinguished  nearly  twenty  years  ?  What  virtue  in  armies, 
in  battles,  in  fire  or  blood  to  resuscitate  extinguished 
titles  ?  What  virtue  in  martial  law,  in  military  occupa 
tion  and  orders,  or  in  drum-head  courts-martial,  to  set 
aside  the  legal  and  moral  rights  of  one  Church  and  set 
up  the  legal  claims  of  another  Church  ?  Was  it  the 
right  of  might,  and  the  might  of  arms  ?  Could  bullets 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  183 

and  bayonets  set  aside  or  substitute  warranty  deeds  ? 
How  could  the  battle  of  Springfield,  fought  August  10, 
1861,  affect  the  title  of  Church  property  in  Springfield 
secured  by  deed  of  conveyance,  dated  October  11,  1856, 
to  certain  gentlemen  as  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  to  hold  in  trust  for  the  uses  of  said  Church  ?  Or 
how  could  the  battles  of  Boonville  or  Lexington  destroy 
the  rights  of  property  in  those  cities  which  inhered  in 
the  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South? 

If  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
sought,  under  cover  of  military  orders  and  with  the  sup 
port  of  bayonets,  to  gain  possession  of  the  property  of 
others,  was  it  not  prima  facie  evidence  that  their  claims 
would  not  be  recognized  in  law  or  equity  ?  and  was  it 
not  a  confession  to  the  mean  purpose  of  obtaining  by 
force  that  to  which  they  had  no  shadow  of  right  in  law  ? 
If  they  obtained  Church  property  by  unfair  and  clan 
destine  means,  under  the  covert  sanction  of  the  military 
authorities,  wherein  do  they  differ  from  others  who 
break  the  eighth  commandment  ?  Can  military  orders 
suspend  Divine  commands  and  confer  a  moral  right  to 
take  possession  and  appropriate  the  property  of  others? 
Let  these  questions,  and  all  others  of  a  kindred  nature 
which  the  curious  casuist  may  be  disposed  to  ask,  be 
answered  in  the  light  of  the  foregoing  and  the  forth 
coming  facts.  Put  that  and  this,  then  and  now,  together, 
and  let  the  conscientious  verdict  of  an  enlightened 
public  judge  between  us. 

The  truth  of  history  requires  a  record  now,  and  a  de 
tailed  statement  of  historical  faets,  that  for  the  sake  of 
common  honesty,  the  plainest  equity,  the  humblest  scale 
of  justice,  and  tlie  lowest  stages  of  our  common  Christi- 


184  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

anity,  should  forever  be  buried  with  the  dead  past  and 
lie  forgotten  "as  a  dream  when  one  awaketh."  But 
truth  and  justice  demand  many  things  which  a  common 
charity,  and  even  a  common  decency,  would  consign  to 
oblivion.  A  diluted  charity  should  never  make  the  pen 
hesitate  in  the  presence  of  important,  though  unpalatable, 
truths.  History  must  be  worthy  of  its  theme,  and  the 
pen  must  be  equal  to  the  utmost  demands  of  the  history. 
"Naught  extenuate,  and  naught  set  down  in  malice." 

In  1862  and  ;63  there  was  a  movement — so  general  over 
the  State  that  the  conviction  that  it  was  concerted  and 
simultaneous  can  not  be  escaped — to  seize,  possess  and 
hold  for  their  own  use,  by  the  Northern  Methodists,  the 
churches  belonging  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  Per 
sistent  efforts  for  this  purpose  were  made  in  almost 
every  county  in  the  State;  and  if  the  whole  history 
could  be  brought  to  light  it  would  be  seen  that  there 
was  held,  at  some  place  or  places,  a  secret  conclave  of 
ministers  in  which  the  purpose  and  the  plan  were  agreed 
upon.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  specify  the  particulars 
of  every  case  of  church  seizure,  but  the  following  more 
prominent  cases  will  be  sufficient : 

CHURCH  IN  KANSAS  CITY. 

In  the  fall  of  1862  Rev.  M.  M.  Pugh,  then  stationed 
at  Kansas  City,  was  forced  by  persecution  to  abandon 
his  church  and  charge  and  flee  for  protection  to  a  neigh 
boring  military  post.  Mr.  Pugh  was  watched  by  enemies 
and  warned  by  friends.  The  threat,  oft  repeated,  of 
arrest  and  imprisonment  did  not  deter  him.  But  to 
know  that  his  steps  were  dogged,  that  detectives  were 
on  his  track,  that  his  life  was  threatened,  and  to  bo  told 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  185 

by  military  officers  that  they  could  not  bo  responsible 
for  his  life  any  night,  and  to  be  advised  that  there  were 
lyers-in-wait  to  assassinate  him,  put  his  life  in  too  great 
peril  to  remain  with  his  people.  He  fled. 

As  soon  as  his  absence  was  known  the  Northern 
Methodists  took  possession  of  the  church  and  held  it 
under  military  protection.  They  organi/ed  a  society 
composed  of  a  few  Northern  fanatics  and  a  i'ew  renegade 
and  weak-kneed  Southern  Methodists.  They  pronounced 
the  M.E.  Church,  South,  dead  and  beyond  the  hope  of  re 
surrection,  tried  to  get  possession  of  the  church  records 
and  declare  all  the  former  society  of  Southern  Methodists 
members,  nolens  volens.  When  they  found  that  but  few 
would  accept  the  transfer,  they  pronounced  the  rest  dis 
loyal,  and  threatened  them  with  confiscation.  "But 
none  of  these  things  moved  them/'  and  they  maintained 
their  fidelity  to  the  Church  of  their  choice  notwithstand 
ing  all  the  abuse,  and  slander,  and  threaten  ings,  and 
slaughter,  that  these  religious  loyalists  could  bring  to 
bear  upon  them. 

After  the  occupancy  of  the  church  for  some  months 
they  became  conscious  of  wrong-doing  and  of  guilt,  and 
in  shame  and  humiliation  turned  the  property  over  to 
the  rightful  owners.  They  found  that  military  orders 
did  not  confer  letters  of  administration.  If  the  Church, 
South,  was  dead  and  buried,  what  right  had  they  more 
than  others  to  administer  on  the  estate? 

In  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  of  May  31,  1806, 
a  correspondent  from  Kansas  City  makes  the  following 
statement : 

"But  the  Church.  During  the  Avar  our  Church  passed 
through  sore  trials — had  'figtitings  without  and  fears 


186  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

within.'  She  was  'persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  cast 
down,  but  not  destroyed.'  Rev.  M.  M.  Pugh  remained 
with  the  Church  in  Kansas  City  until  the  latter  part  of 
1862,  attending  to  his  legitimate  business  in  his  own 
quiet  way — preaching  Christ  and  his  cross  to  perishing 
sinners — when  the  presence  of  blood-thirsty  Northern 
Methodist  preachers  and  their  willing  tools,  threatening 
his  life  on  the  streets  and  dogging  his  steps,  hounded 
him  off  to  safer  quarters  where  he  could  rely  upon  the 
protection  of  military  power.  The  Northern  Method 
ists  then  took  possession  of  the  church,  organized  a 
society,  composed  in  part  of  a  few  blinded  fanatics  and 
weak-kneed  renegades  from  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
who  at  once  imagined  themselves  possessed  of  other 
people's  property,  began  to  abuse  and  traduce  Southern 
Methodists,  pronounced  the  Church  dead,  and  proceeded 
to  administer  on  the  estate. 

"But  'military  necessity'  did  not  confer  upon  them 
letters  of  administration,  and  they  reckoned  without 
their  host.  It  is  true,  the  General  Conference  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  North,  enacted  a  political  test  of  mem 
bership  for  all  persons  everywhere  who  seek  admission 
to  her  pales;  and  I  submit  whether  or  not  they  make 
the  repeal  of  the  eighth  commandment,  also,  a  test  of 
membership  for  the  province  of  Missouri.  For  it  seems 
that  no  sooner  do  people  get  into  that  Church  than  they 
proceed  to  take  and  to  hold,  to  possess  and  to  use,  pro 
perty  for  which  others  have  paid,  and  houses  which 
others  have  built,  supposing  that  membership  in  that 
Church  invests  them,  under  the  operation  of  a  'higher 
law,'  with  rights  and  titles  above  warranty  deeds  and 
Supreme  Court  decisions." 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  187 

In  the  same  paper,  of  June  13,  1866,  the  following 
statement  appears  upon  the  same  subject: 

"After  Brother  Pugh  was  run  off  the  Church  was 
occupied  for,  some  time  by  the  Northern  Methodists, 
who  assumed  that  the  Church  property  was  theirs,  to 
have  and  to  hold,  with  all  the  appurtenances  thereto 
belonging,  to  them  and  to  their  successors  forever. 
They  abused  Southern  Methodists  roundly,  threatened 
them  much,  and  with  all  the  prestige  of  power  assaulted 
the  gates  of  our  Zioii  until  they  became  so  offensive  that 
all  true  friends  of  our  Church  and  of  the  Government 
gave  them  a  wide  berth  and  left  them  alone  in  their 
shame. 

"Some  who  in  name  had  been  with  us,  but  were  not 
in  heart  of  us,  went  out  from  us  to  take  shelter  under 
their  political  banner,  prove  their  loyalty  to  the  Govern 
ment,  and — as  they  were  told — save  their  property  and 
their  lives,  and  be  fitted,  as  it  proved,  to  enjoy  the 
product  of  others'  labor  and  the  spoils  of  pious  conquest. 

"  The  faithful  of  our  Church  pursued  the  even  tenor  of 
their  way,  and  when  refused  their  own  house  of  worship 
met  in  private  houses  for  worship,  and  when  denied  this 
means  of  grace  they  kept  up  the  sewing  circle  and  mite 
society,  and  in  this  way  the  'faithful  women  not  a  few* 
preserved  an  organization,  a  name  and  a  life.  "While 
their  harps  were  upon  the  willows  they  often  sat  down 
together  and  wept  when  they  remembered  their  Zion, 
once  so  beautiful  for  situation — the  joy  of  all  hearts. 
They  suffered  all  that  the  betrayal  of  Judas  and  the 
denial  of  Peter  could  inflict  upon  them.  Yet,  believing 
truth  and  right,  though  nailed  to  the  cross  and  buried 
in  the  tomb,  Avould,  like  the  divine  Kedeemer,  rise  again 


188  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

leading  captivity  captive  and  conferring  gifts  upon  men, 
they  waited  patiently  and  hopefully  till  their  change 
should  come.  And  it  did  come,  and  that  by  a  way  they 
knew  not.  They  were,  like  their  Lord,  'despised 
and  rejected  of  men/  yet  their  faith  failed  not:  '  They 
had  confidence  in  the  Church  and  the  pledges  of 
her  risen  Head.  Their  faith  grew  sublime  as  the  dark 
ness  increased  and  the  troubles  multiplied  about  them. 
f  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it/  they 
heard  in  the  thick  darkness,  and  bowing  to  the  storm 
they  sheltered  themselves  within  the  clefts  of  the  ever 
lasting  Rock  'until  these  calamities  be  overpast/ 

"  There  were  some  men  in  authority  who  loved  the 
right  and  hated  the  wrong.  There  were,  also,  'good 
men  and  true '  in  the  Church,  whose  loyalty  to  the 
Government  was  only  equaled  by  their  fidelity  to  the 
Church,  and  neither  could  be  shaken  by  all  the  libels 
and  slanders  of  ecclesiastical  hirelings.  When  such 
men  have  the  adjustment  of  the  rights  of  property,  truth 
and  righteousness  will  at  last  prevail,  and  justice  will 
be  reached  in  the  end.  To  such  are  we  indebted  for  our 
Church  property  in  Kansas  City." 

These  extracts  show  the  purpose  and  the  plan  of  these 
ministers  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  The  vir 
tues  of  superloyalty  claimed  for  themselves,  and  the 
cry  of  disloyalty  and  treason  against  Southern  Metho 
dists,  were  not  to  go  unrewarded.  It  may  be  unchari 
table  to  suspect  the  motives  of  others,  but  it  is  not 
uncharitable  to  record  their  acts  and  doings  when  the 

O 

caus6  of  truth  and  righteousness  will  be  served  and  the 
truth  of  history  vindicated  thereby. 


MARTYRDOM   IN    MISSOURI.  189 

CHURCH  AT  INDEPENDENCE. 

In  1857  the  members  and  friends  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  erected,  finished,  furnished,  dedicated  and  paid 
for  a  beautiful  Church  in  the  city  of  Independence. 
The  architecture  was  half  Gothic,  and  most  elegant  in 
its  proportions  and  finish,  two  stories,  with  Sunday 
school,  lecture  room,  pastor's  study,  class  rooms,  closets, 
library  and  furnace  rooms  below,  and  above  one  of  the 
handsomest  audience  rooms  in  the  State.  The  whole 
cost  was  over  815,000.  A  convenient  and  commodious 
parsonage  in  the  rear,  on  the  same  lot,  with  ample  and 
tastefully  ornamented  grounds  for  both  Church  and 
parsonage. 

This  property  was  built  and  paid  for  by  Southern 
Methodists,  and  used  and  occupied  by  them  without 
molestation  till  the  fall  of  1862,  when  it  was  left  tem 
porarily  without  a  pastor.  A  covetous  eye  had  been 
on  it,  and  the  pastor  for  1861  and  '62  had  often  been 
warned  of  personal  danger  and  advised  to  seek  some 
place  of  safety.  He  was  several  times  put  under  mili 
tary  arrest,  and  several  times  informed  of  plots  and 
purposes  to  shoot  or  hang  him.  The  leaders  of  ma 
rauding  bands  of  Kansas  "Redlegs"  or  "Jayhawkers" 
had  often  sworn  vengeance  against  him  because  he  was 
a  Southern  Methodist  preacher.  They  had  hunted  dili 
gently  for  some  accusation  against  him,  or  some  pretext 
for  taking  his  life,  but  he  had  been  too  prudent  and 
cautious  for  their  purpose  ]  had  pursued  with  singular 
fidelity  his  own  calling,  nor  turned  to  the  right  or  left 
for  any  purpose  or  party;  had  made  many  warm  friends 
amongst  the  best  Union  men,  who  demanded  that  he 


190  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

should  be  let  alone  in  his  work  and  not  molested  any 
way  by  the  authorities.  They  pronounced  him  loyal  to 
his  Master,  his  Church,  his  country,  "and  to  have 
nothing  laid  to  his  charge  worthy  of  death  or  of  bonds." 
He  felt  safe  in  the  hands  and  under  the  protection  of 
the  regular  military  authorities,  even  such  desperate 
characters  as  Lane,  Jemiison,  Anthony,  Montgomery, 
Nugent,  etc.,  within  whose  military  lines  he  had  lived, 
and  preached,  and  labored  without  any  great  annoyance 
or  molestation.  But  the  bands  of  lawless  desperadoes 
and  plunderers  who  could  be  used  by  designing  men 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  such  as  Cleveland  and  others, 
from  Kansas,  were  too  irresponsible  and  reckless  to 
trust.  Friends  had  traveled  in  the  night  from  Kansas 
City  to  Independence,  a  distance  of  twelve  miles,  to 
warn  him  of  threats  to  hang  him  made  by  Cleveland 
and  other  outlaws,  and  through  many  other  sources  he 
was  impressed  with  the  fact  that  to  remain  would  be  to 
sacrifice  his  life  causelessly.  His  friends  advised  him 
to  seek  safety  in  flight,  even  the  Union  military  officers 
of  the  post  counseled  this  course  and  provided  the 
necessary  facilities. 

While  his  preparations  to  leave  were  being  made  the 
battle  of  Independence  was  fought,  in  which  the  Con 
federates,  under  Colonels  Hughes,  Thompson,  Boyd  and 
others,  succeeded  in  taking  the  city,  with  its  garrison, 
after  a  contest  of  four  hours.  This  occurred  on  the 
morning  of  August  13,  1862,  and  precipitated  the  flight 
of  the  pastor.  After  the  surrender  he  spent  the  day 
in  caring  for  the  wounded  and  dying,  the  night  in  pack 
ing  up  and  storing  his  effects,  and  the  next  day  at  2  P. 
M.,  with  his  family,  his  trunks  and  some  few  movable 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  191 

effects,  in  a  coverless  two-horse  wagon,  he  started  for 
Lexington  and  St.  Louis. 

He  had  not  been  gone  two  hours  when  the  city  was 
re-entered  by  the  Federal  forces — a  much  enraged 
Kansas  regiment — and  for  some  cause  yet  unknown  his 
house  and  church  were  searched,  and  every  place  of 
possible  concealment  in  the  whole  vicinity  visited  with 
unsparing  vigilance  to  find  him.  Enraged  soldiers 
stamped  the  pavement  in  bitter  disappointment,  and 
swore  loudly  that  if  he  could  be  found  the  first  limb 
would  be  too  good  to  swing  his  lifeless  carcass  for  the 
fowls  of  the  air. 

Many  a  dark  day  had  he  shared  with  his  flock,  and 
they  rejoiced  now  in  his  safety.  He  will  never  forget 
the  "  Black  Thursday,"  as  it  was  called  by  sad  distinc 
tion,  when  all  the  men  of  the  city  were  arrested  by  Col. 
Jennison,  penned  up  in  the  Court  House  yard,  and 
guarded  by  a  double  line  of  soldiers  all  around  the 
public  square,  while  the  drunken  negroes  of  his  com 
mand  were  turned  loose  upon  the  city  to  free  the  slaves 
and  pillage  and  plunder  the  homes  of  the  people  to  their 
hearts'  content.  The  insults  offered  the  ladies  by  those 
beastly  semi-savages,  infuriated  by  bad  whisky,  and  the 
deeds  of  horror  committed  by  them,  will  sufficiently 
characterize  the  day  as  the  "Black  Thursday,"  and  dis 
tinguish  the  annals  of  crime  without  any  detailed 
record  here.  None  can  forget  the  pillage  and  burning 
of  Porter's  elegant  residence  and  the  very  narrow 
escape  of  his  sick  daughter,  who  was  rescued  from  the 
second  story  only  by  the  efforts  of  the  ladies,  in  defiance 
of  the  threats  of  the  brutal  soldiery;  nor  will  that  line 
of  burning  buildings,  the  light  of  which  fell  on  their 


192  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

retreating  path  all  the  way  back  to  Kansas  City,  and 
made  lurid  and  fervid  the  evening  sky,  ever  pass  from 
the  mind.  Many  other  scenes  of  similar  character  had 
made  life  and  property  insecure;  and  Southern  Metho 
dist  ministers  were  the  objects  of  particular  displeasure. 

During  that  fall,  and  before  the  church  had  been 
supplied  with  another  pastor,  a  Rev.  James  Lee,  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  North,  made  his  appearance  in  Inde 
pendence  and  demanded  possession  of  the  church.  lie 
first  demanded  the  key,  which  the  rightful  owners  re 
fused  to  give  up.  He  then  appealed  to  the  military 
commander  of  the  post.  This  officer  ordered  the  trus 
tees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  to  report  the  key  to 
his  headquarters  under  pain  of  confiscation  and  banish 
ment.  The  key  was  surrendered  to  him,  and  he  gave 
it  to  Mr.  Lee  with  his  authority  to  hold  and  use  the 
church.  After  Mr.  Lee  got  possession  of  the  house  of 
worship  he,  as  if  to  "add  insult  to  injury,"  went 
through  with  a  formal  dedication  service,  setting  the 
house  apart  to  the  worship  of  G-od  as  though  it  had  been 
a  pagan  temple  ;  after  which  it  was  used  by  the  North 
ern  Methodists  as  though  it  belonged  of  right  to  them, 
and  without  any  seeming  compunctions  of  conscience. 
The  Church,  South,  had  no  place  of  worship,  and  in 
some  respects  the  ladies  of  Independence  duplicated  the 
work  and  re-enacted  the  scenes  of  Kansas  City. 

In  1864  Rev.  Mr.  DeMott  was  sent  by  his  Church  to 
hold  possession  of  and  use  the  property.  Not  content 
with  the  church,  he  demanded  the  parsonage.  He  al 
ready  had  the  coat  and  he  wanted  the  cloak  also.  But 
the  trustees  of  the  M.  E,  Church,  South,  had  rented  the 
parsonage  to  a  poor  widow,  Mrs.  Brazil  by  name. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  193 

Mr.  Do^fott  asked  her  to  vacate  the  house,  this  she 
declined  to  do;  he  demanded  the  ke}r,  she  refused  to 
give  it  up.  He  then  appealed  to  the  Commander  of  the 
Post,  and  returned  with  the  result  of  this  appeal  in  the 
form  of  the  following  military  order : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  43d  IXF.  Mo.  VOLUNTEERS.         \ 
INDEPENDENCE,  Mo.,  March  31,  1805.    j 

"  To  Mrs.  Brazil,  living  in  Methodist  Parsonage,  Inde 
pendence,  Mo. : 

"It  having  been  represented  to  the  commanding 
officer  that  you  occupy  the  parsonage  belonging  to  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  persist  in  retaining 
the  possession  of  the  same  to  the  exclusion  of  the  minis 
ter  of  said  Church,  using  in  connection  with  such  refusal 
language  defiant  of  the  Federal  authorities  and  treason 
able  to  the  United  States  Government,  you  are  therefore 
required  to  move  your  household  goods  out  of  and 
evacuate  said  parsonage  by  the  morning  of  the  third  of 
April  proximo ;  at  which  time,  on  failure  on  your  part 
to  comply  with  this  order,  your  goods  will  be  removed 
by  the  commander  of  this  station. 

"  Ve^y  respectfully, 

"B.  E.  DAVIS, 
"Major  43d  Mo.  Yols.,  commanding  station." 

Now,  let  it  be  understood  that  this  property,  as  well 
as  the  church,  had  been  built  and  paid  for  by  the 
Southern  Methodists,  and  of  the  three  hundred  members 
of  that  Church  then  in  Independence,  not  more  than 
eight  or  ten  united  with  the  M.  E.  Church,  North. 

The  language  of  the  above  order  sufficiently  indicates 
the  representations  made  by  Mr.  DcMottto  the  military 

13 


194  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

authorities  to  influence  them  to  move  in  that  direction 
in  their  work  of  saving  the  Union. 

To  turn  a  defenseless  and  helpless  widow  with  her 
children  and  household  effects  into  the  streets  to  make 
room  for  a  Northern  Methodist  minister  to  occupy  and 
hold  property  that  belonged  to  others  was,  perhaps,  a 
military  movement  of  great  strategic  importance  to  the 
cause  of  the  Union  and  the  restoration  of  the  Govern 
ment;  but  in  the  light  of  moral  honesty  and  Christian 
decency  the  military  manoeuvre  becomes  a  pious  fraud, 
which  the  perpetrators  were  forced,  after  using  its  op 
portunities  for  several  years,  to  confess  before  men. 

The  church  and  parsonage  were  occupied  and  used  by 
Mr.  DeMott,  when  in  the  fall  of  1865  Eev.  M.  M.  Pugh 
was  appointed  by  the  St.  Louis  Annual  Conference,  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  to  the  Independence  station.  On  his 
arrival  he  made  a  formal  demand  of  Mr.  DeMott  for  the 
property.  This  was  just  as  formally  refused ;  the  occu 
pant  declaring  at  the  same  time  that  he  "had  been  sent 
there  by  his  Church  to  hold  that  property  for  the  use 
and  benefit  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  he  intended  to  do 
it."  Recourse  was  had  to  the  law,  and  suit  for  posses 
sion  was  instituted. 

This  suit  was  called  in  the  Circuit  Court  for  the  spring 
of  1866,  when  Mr.  DeMott  made  affidavit  that  important 
witnesses  were  absent  and  he  was  not  ready  for  trial- — 
the  case  was  continued.  The  following  fall  term  of  the 
Court  was  held,  and  the  defendants  again  swore  that 
they  were  not  ready  for  trial.  Again  the  case  was  con 
tinued,  but  it  was  apparent  that  the  motive  for  continu 
ing  the  case  so  often  was  the  farther  use  of  the  property, 
of  which  they  knew  the  law  would  deprive  them.  They 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  195 

were  never  ready  for  trial,  but  be<^an  to  feel  the  force 
of  public  sentiment  and  the  shame  of  fraudulent  dealing, 
if  the  sense  of  shame  still  remained;  and  the  wiser  and 
abler  of  them  began  to  fear  the  penalty,  not  only  of 
fraud,  but  of  rents  and  damages,  and  advised  a  com 
promise.  In  February,  1867,  they  proposed,  through 
their  counsel,  one  Col.  Hines,  to  surrender  the  property 
and  pay  all  costs  if  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  would 
withdraw  the  suit.  To  this  Messrs.  Sawyer,  Chrisman 
and  Hovcy,  counsel  for  plaintiffs,  agreed.  The  suit  was 
accordingly  withdrawn,  the  property  vacated,  and  the 
rightful  owners  took  possession. 

The  property  was  much  damaged,  and  involved  heavy 
expense  in  the  necessary  repairs.  Those  who  occupied 
it  evidently  felt  that  it  did  not  belong  to  them,  and 
abused  it  accordingly. 

To  show  more  fully  the  grounds  of  the  suit  and  the 
defense  set  up  by  defendants  it  may  not  be  out  of  place, 
as  an  important  part  of  the  history  of  this  affair,  to  in 
troduce  here  a  statement  of  the  case  furnished  by  Sam'l 
Sawyer,  Esq.,  of  Independence,  one  of  the  counsel  for 
plaintiffs.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  The  Church  property  at  this  place  (Independence), 
as  you  are  aware,  was  taken  possession  of  by  the  M.  E. 
Church,  North,  during  the  war,  and  the  trustees  of  the 
Church,  South,  were  compelled  to  assume  the  offensive. 
At  first  a  suit  by  forcible  entry  was  instituted  before  a 
Justice  of  the  Peace,  which  was  moved  to  the  Circuit 
Court  by  certiorari ;  but  as  the  suit,  however  determined, 
would  not  settle  the  title  to  the  property,  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  institute  a  suit,  not  only  for  possession,  but 
also  to  quit  the  title.  In  this  last  suit  a  full  history  of 


196  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI 

the  church  at  Independence,  as  well  as  of  the  action  of 
the  General  Conference  in  New  York  in  1844,  and  the 
Louisville  Convention  in  1845,  was  set  up.  In  the 
answer  filed  by  defendants  they  admitted  the  action  of 
the  General  Conference  of  1844,  and  the  Convention  at 
Louisville,  Ky.,  the  following  year;  also,  the  action  of 
the  Missouri  Annual  Conference  of  1845,  but  deny  their 
authority  to  act  in  the  premises,  and  assert  that  the 
property  was  conveyed  for  the  use  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
at  Independence  Station,  that  they  are  the  successors 
of  the  original  trustees  named  in  the  deed  of  convey 
ance,  and  as  such  they  assert  their  title  to  the  property. 
Within  the  past  few  months  several  passes  have  been 
made  for  a  compromise,but  nothing  definite  was  proposed 
until  last  Saturday,  when  I  received  a  proposition  from 
the  attorney  for  defendants  to  surrender  the  whole 
property  and  pay  all  the  costs.  This  proposition,  al 
though  not  what  it  should  have  been,  yet,  under  the 
circumstances,  and  in  view  of  the  uncertainty  hanging 
on  the  future,  it  was  deemed  best  to  accept;  and  on  last 
Monday  morning  I  received  the  keys,  and  possession 
was  at  once  given  to  the  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South.  This  I  hope  ends  the  controversy. 

"I  would  be  glad  to  believe  that  the  motive  claimed, 
viz.,  a  disposition  to  do  right,  was  the  governing  motive 
in  giving  up  the  property;  but  my  own  opinion  is,  they 
saw  that  whenever  trial  could  be  had  they  had  no  case, 
and  hence  concluded  to  get  out  of  a  bad  scrape  with  as 
much  credit  as  possible.  There  was  a  difference  of 
opinion  among  their  members.  Those,  as  usual,  who 
had  no  pecuniary  interests,  and  no  property  to  answer 
for  the  costs  and  damages  that  might  be  recovered,  were 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  197 

for  fight  to  the  lust,  while  the  more  moderate  and  the 
men  of  means  were  determined  to  yield  the  possession, 
and  their  better  counsels  prevailed." 

Thus  ended  the  case  as  it  exists  plainly  in  the  facts  of 
history,  but  there  are  some  side  lights  and  side  scenes 
in  the  details  without  which  the  affair  will  not  be  com 
plete.  A  few  circumstantial  details,  which  are  contained 
in  a  communication  found  in  the  St.  Louis  Christian 
Advocate,  of  June  20,  1866,  will  serve  to  sample  the 
whole.  Take  the  following  extracts: 

"And  there,  too,  stands  that  elegant  church,  with  its 
stained  windows  and  tall,  graceful  spire,  at  once  the 
pride  and  ornament  of  the  city ;  but  its  aisles  are  trod 
by  other  feet,  and  its  cushioned  pews  are  filled  or  re 
served  for  other  worshipers  than  those  who  built,  or 
bought,  or  owned  the  property.  The  pulpit  and  altar, 
so  tastefully  fitted  and  furnished  by  the  young  men  in 
1857,  are  now  served  by  other  hands  and  other  tongues, 
and  I  had  almost  said  by  another  gospel,  than  those  for 
whom  or  that  for  which  they  were  prepared. 

"The  parsonage,  which  has  housed  so  many  good 
men  of  our  church  and  their  families,  for  whom  it  wa& 
built,  is  now  occupied  by  another;  and  the  spacious 
yard,  once  so  tastefully  ornamented  with  shade  and 
fruit  trees,  flowers  and  evergreens,  is  laid  waste  and 
almost  bare — now  the  common  resort  of  horses,  cows, 
hogs,  dogs  and  dirty  children  from  the  streets. 

"  Sadly  I  turned  away  from  a  scene  of  wrong  and 
desecration  to  pity  the  moral  condition  of  the  hearts 
that  could  meditate  and  the  hands  that  could  perpetrate 
such  sacrilegious  injustice.  What  right  have  the  North 
ern  Methodists  to  this  property?  Did  they  build  it? 


198  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

buy  it  ?  pay  for  it  ?  or  even  give  one  dollar  toward 
paying  for  it  ?  What  claim  do  they  set  up  ?  What 
show  of  right?  If  there  be  a  higher  law  than  civil  law 
— if  there  be  another  standard  of  moral  justice  and  right 
than  the  inspired  gospel  which  they  pretend  to  preach 
and  practice — then  they  may  have  some  show  of  claim; 
not  without. 

"  For  nearly  twenty  years  that  property  has  been  held 
by  trustees,  regularly  appointed,  for  the  use  and  benefit 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  no  one  questioned 
their  legal  right  or  sought  to  disturb  their  peaceable 
possession. 

"  But  during  the  reign  of  terror,  in  1862,  J63  and  '64, 
under  which  so  many  people  in  Jackson  county  lost 
their  lives,  and  so  many  more  their  property,  and  under 
the  oft-reiterated  threats  of  Northern  Methodists  and 
their  hirelings,  with  no  inconsiderable  military  pressure, 
this  property  passed  out  of  our  hands  without  the  for 
malities  and  fogyism  of  bargain  and  sale,  or  legal 
transfer  of  title. 

"  *  When  the  war  closed,  and  President 

Johnson  had  ordered  the  return  of  the  property  taken 
from  us  in  the  South  under  the  notorious  Stanton-Ames 
order,  the  trustees  of  our  church  made  a  civil  demand 
for  the  restoration  of  this  property  also,  which  was  re 
fused  by  these  loyal  (?)  property-lovers. 

"  The  ladies,  believing  that  they  had  the  first  and  best 
right  to  the  property,  and  chagrined  at  this  refusal, 
entered  the  church  one  day  with  their  knitting  and  sew 
ing,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  and  disposed  of  themselves 
in  a  peaceable,  quiet,  orderly  way,  to  spend  the  day  in 
the  house  of  worship  built  and  paid  for  by  their  hus- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  199 

bands,  fathers  and  1.) rot  hers.  The  Northern  Methodist 
preacher,  soon  apprised  of  the  fact,  hastened  to  a  civil 
magistrate  and  made  affidavit  that  these  ladies  were 
'disturbing  the  peace/  procured  a  peace  warrant  and  a 
constable  and  proceeded  to  the  church,  where  he  found 
these  orderly  ladies  'assembled,  neither  with  multitude 
or  tumult/  and  had  them  arrested  and  dragged  before  the 
civil  officer  for  trial.  With  all  of  their  'false  witnesses' 
nothing  was  found  in  them  'worthy  of  prison  or  of 
death/  and  after  binding  them  over  to  keep  the  peace 
they  were  released. 

"  *  President  Johnson  was  applied  to 

personally  for  the  restoration  of  this  property  to  its 
rightful  owners,  as  it  had  been  taken  under  military 
authority  and  order.  He  referred  the  matter  to  General 
Pope,  commanding  the  Department.  Gen.  Pope  put  the 
case,  with  instructions,  in  the  hands  of  a  subordinate 
officer,  and  he  buried  it  so  deep  in  his  pocket  that  it 
never  came  to  light  afterward." 

These  are  only  some  of  the  circumstances  that  seem 
necessary  to  develop  the  whole  transaction,  but  they 
must  suffice.  The  case  is  on  record,  with  many  others 
of  like  character,  to  go  down  to  posterity  as  a  part  of 
the  history  made  during  those  dark  days.  The  North 
ern  Methodist  papers  have  repeatedly  denied  that  their 
Church  ever  seized,  held  or  appropriated  the  property 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  One  more  fact  will  be  a 
positive  confirmation  of  their  appropriation  of  this 
property.  It  is  this : 

In  the  official  statistics  of  the  "Missouri  and  Arkansas 
Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
for  1865  "  this  church  and  parsonage  arc  reported  and 


200  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

valued,  t:io  church  at  $17,000  and  the  parsonage  at 
S3, 000.  The  same  property  is  again  reported  in  the 
statistics  for  1866;  and  then,  without  any  note  of  ex 
planation,  disappears  from  the  annual  statistical  report 
of  Church  property  in  Missouri. 

To  show  that  this  action,  with  all  similar  efforts  to 
gain  possession  of  the  property  of  others,  was  encour 
aged  and  sanctioned  by  the  Church  in  Missouri,  and  was 
only  a  part  of  their  programme  of  Church  extension,  in 
the  minutes  of  the  "Missouri  and  Arkansas  Annual 
Conference  "  for  1865  the  following  record  is  made  : 

"The  following  resolution  was  read  and  referred  to 
the  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Church : 

"Eesolved,  That  the  preachers  of  the  Conference  be, 
and  they  are  hereby,  requested  to  take  all  necessary 
steps  in  order  to  repossess  the  Church  property  belong 
ing  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Missouri/' 

That  the  above  committee  did  most  fully  meet  the 
intent  of  that  resolution  the  report  which  was  unani 
mously  adopted  will  show.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Your  committee  beg  to  record  our  devout  gratitude 
to  the  great  Head  of  the  Church  for  the  rich  and  glori 
ous  manifestations  of  his  power  in  the  extension  of  his 
kingdom  within  the  bounds  of  the  Conference.  At  such 
a  time  and  in  such  an  age  as  this  every  friend  of  the 
truth  and  every  lover  of  extension  should  be  vigilant 
and  hopeful,  and  more  especially  as  the  ministers  and 
members  of  the  ever  loyal  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  the  United  States,  to  whom  are  constantly  presenting 
new  and  extensive  fields  of  extension,  labors  and  useful 
ness.  Advantages  of  no  ordinary  character  are  presented 
at  this  time.  The  action  of  the  Missouri  State  Con- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  201 

vention,  by  bill  of  rights,  secures  to  any  loyal  trustee  or 
trustees  the  right  to  control  any  church  or  educational 
property  by  application  to  the  Circuit  Court  for  the 
appointment  of  such  other  trustees  of  recognized  and 
established  loyalty;  and  we  deem  it  proper  to  direct  the 
attention  of  the  ministers  of  the  Conference  to  the  fact 
that  much  of  such  property  now  held  in  this  State  is 
under  the  control  of  the  disloyal  and  treasonable,  prop 
erty  which  was  originally  deeded  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  the  United  States,  and  we  advise 
our  ministers  that,  wrhenever  practicable,  immediate  steps 
be  taken  to  possess  and  retain  the  same  according  to  the 
forms  of  law  secured  by  Bill  of  Eights.  It  further 
appears  to  your  committee  as  of  great  importance,  in  the 
present  state  of  the  Church,  that  all  persons  of  undoubted 
and  established  loyalty  and  holding  the  Methodist  doc 
trine  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be  in  communion  with 
us,  that  we  may  strive  together  for  the  advancement  of 
our  common  cause  in  the  earth.  In  view  of  these  facts 
it  is  hereby 

"Resolved,  1.  That  a  committee  of  five  be  appointed 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  draw  up  a  brief  address  to  the 
ministers  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
inviting  to  unite  with  our  Church  all  who  are  truly  loyal 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  as  a  common 
government  over  all  the  United  States,  as  recognized 
in  its  constitution  and  laws,  and  assuring  them  of  an 
affectionate  and  hearty  welcome  to  this  fold. 

"Resolved  2,  That  the  ministers  of  this  Conference 
are  hereby  requested  to  take  all  necessary  steps  in  order 
to  re-obtain  possession  of  the  Church  property  belonging 
to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Missouri,  agree. 


202  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

able  to  the  provisions  of  the  Bill  of  Eights  enacted  by 
the  Missouri  Slate  Convention." 

Let  it  be  observed  that  the  same  State  Convention 
that  adopted  the  New  Constitution  with  its  notorious 
"Test  Oath  "  ordained  also  the  "Bill  of  Eights,"  over 
which  the  Conference  indulged  such  extravagant  gratu- 
lations. 

How  many  Northern  Methodist  ministers  and  mem 
bers  were  in  that  State  Convention,  and  how  far  that 
Church  influenced  the  action  of  the  Convention,  and 
how  far  the  said  action  was  intended  by  its  authors  to 
restrict  the  liberty  and  expose  to  persecution  the  per 
sons  of  Southern  Methodist  ministers  and  aiYect  the 
property  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  in  this  State, 
others  may  determine  from  the  facts  upon  record. 

Many  things  are  yet  to  be  revealed  upon  the  subject, 
and  the  fact  can  not  be  escaped  that  the  plan  of  persecu 
tion  was  well  settled,  thoroughly  digested,  well  under 
stood  and  embraced  this  church- appropriating  or  church- 
stealing  business,  under  military  orders  and  State  Con 
vention  ordinances. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  203 


CHAPTER    XII. 

CHURCH    SEIZURES — CONTINUED. 

Church  at  Lexington — Suit  Brought  for  it  by  the  Methodist  Church 
— Statement  of  Mr.  Sawyer — Suit  Dismissed — Salem.  Arrow  Hock, 
California  and  other  Churches — Lagrange  Church,  History — How 
the  Church  North  Borrowed  and  then  Seized  it — Notice  Served — 
Colonel  AV.  M.  Redding  the  "Faithful  Guardian  "—Rev.  W.  C. 
Stewart — Christian  Charity — What  a  Southern  Methodist  Says — 
Central  Advocate — Mr.  Stewart's  "Honor"  Transmitted — Suit  for 
Possession — Arbitration— Louisiana  Church — Its  History  and  how 
it  was  Seized — Civil  Courts  and  Church  Trustees — Names  Forged 
— Counter  Petition — Decision  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas  — 
Supreme  Court  of  Missouri — History  of  the  Case — Opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court — S.  S.  Allen,  Esq.,  on  Church  and  State — Rulings 
of  the  Court — The  Case  Reversed — Efforts  to  Compromise — Five 
Years'  Possession — Reported  in  Church  Statistics — Supplement — 
Able  Argument  of  Smith  S.  Allen,  Esq. 

CHURCH  IN  LEXINGTON. 

In  1860  the  old  Methodist  Church  in  Lexington,  Mo., 
was  torn  down  and  a  new  one  erected  on  the  same  lot. 
The  new  edifice  was  modeled  mainly  after  that  at  Inde 
pendence — a  little  larger,  finer  and  costlier.  Up  to  the 
time  of  its  completion,  in  1862,  the  Northern  Methodists 
had  no  permanent  organization  in  the  city,  except  one 
improvised  for  the  army  and  other  purposes  the  year 
before.  Since  the  division  of  the  Church  they  had 
never  had  any  hold  in  that  section  of  the  State,  and  but 
for  the  presence  and  power  of  the  army  it  is  reasonable 
to  suppose  that  no  claim  upon  that  property  would  have 
ever  been  set  up.  They  had  a  few  adherents,  and  about 
the  last  year  of  the  war  they  instituted  suit  for  the 


204  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

recovery  of  that  Church  property.  The  following  state 
ment  furnished  by  ]\Ir.  Sawyer,  the  counsel  for  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South, will  explain  the  nature  of  the  suit: 

"The  suit  at  Lexington,  as  you  are  probably  aware, 
was  instituted  by  certain  persons  assuming  to  be  the 
Trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church  against  the  Trustees 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  It  was  an  action  of 
ejectment  for  the  recovery  of  the  possession  on  the 
ground  of  title.  The  answer  set  up  the  action  of  the 
General  Conference  in  New  York  in  1844,  embracing 
the  whole  Plan  of  Separation,  as  also  the  action  of  the 
Southern  Conferences  in  convention  at  Louisville  in 
1845,  as  well  as  the  action  of  the  Missouri  and  St.  Louis 
Conferences  in  reference  to  the  Plan  of  Separation;  all 
of  which  action,  it  was  insisted,  was  in  effect  a  contract 
between  the  parties,  and  valid  and  binding  as  such. 
This  was  the  main  ground  of  defense  to  the  action;  and 
when  I  went  to  the  court  last  fall,  expecting  to  try  the 
case,  I  found  the  suit  had  been  dismissed  and  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  left  in  the  undisturbed  possession  of  their 
property." 

Finding  that  they  had  no  shadow  of  claim  to  the  prop 
erty,  and  no  pretext  even  for  getting  -possession  by 
military  interference,  they  withdrew  the  suit,  paid  the 
costs,  and  turned  their  attention  to  other  places  where 
they  had  a  better  show  of  success. 

SALEM  CHURCH. 

The  Northern  Methodists  took  possession  of  Salem 
Church,  in  Pettis  county,  on  the  Georgetown  circuit, 
held  and  used  it  for  several  months,  and  finding  that 
they  were  not  sustained  by  the  citizens,  and  too  remote 
from  military  posts,  they  abandoned  it  from  very  shame. 


MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI.  205 

ARROW  BOCK  AND  OTHER  CHURCHES. 

The  Rev.  M.  M.  Pngh  writes: 

"  They  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  appropriate  our 
church  in  Arrow  Rock.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Hagerty,  one  of 
the  most  active  men  in  this  church-seizing  business, 
made  a  visit  to  that  place  for  the  purpose  of  making 
that  church  the  property  of  his  organization.  Our 
friends  watched  him  closely,  and  he  signally  failed. 

"They  also  tried  to  seize  our  church  in  California.  I 
believe  they  were  persuaded  to  desist  in  this  case.  Our 
church  in  Warrensburg  was  burned.  I  do  not  know  the 
particulars.  So,  also,  was  our  church  in  Miami,  but  we 
do  not  know  by  whom  it  was  set  on  fire. 

CHURCH  IN   LAGRANGE. 

In  1838  two  lots  in  the  town  of  Lagrange,  Lewis 
county,  Mo.,  were  deeded  to  B.  AY.  Stith,  C.  S.  Skinner, 
John  Lafon,  Middleton  Smoot  and  others,  trustees,  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
as  then  constituted.  In  the  following  year  a  small  brick 
house  was  erected  on  the  lots  and  used  by  the  Church 
in  nn  unfinished  condition  until  1844.  It  was  then  fin 
ished,  and  upon  the  division  of  the  Church  passed  into 
the  hands  and  ownership  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
The  membership  in  1845  voted  to  adhere  South,  with 
only  three  or  four  dissenting  voices,  and  they  acquiesced 
in  the  will  of  the  majority  and  remained  in  the  Southern 
Church  until  after  the  repudiation  of  the  Plan  of  Sepa 
ration  by  the  General  Conference  of  1848.  Up  to  that 
time  the  Northern  Church  attempted  no  organization  in 
Lagrange.  But  soon  after  that  event  the  Church  North 


206  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

sent  a  Hev.  Mr.  Chivington  (the  same  who  made  him 
self  notorious  a  few  years  ago  in  the  indiscriminate 
massacre  of  Indians  near  Fort  Union)  to  that  place.  He 
sought  and  obtained  permission  to  preach  in  the  church. 
After  sermon  he  organized  a  class  of  seven  members, 
and  publicly  thanked  the  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  for  the  use  of  their  house. 

The  members  of  the  Church  North  recognized  the 
validity  of  the  decisions  of  the  courts  in  the  Maysville, 
Ky.,  and  New  York  and  Cincinnati  church  property 
cases,  and  set  up  no  claim  whatever  to  the  property  in 
Lagrange,  or  elsewhere  in  Missouri,  until  after  the  be 
ginning  of  the  war. 

In  1853  the  old  church  was  displaced  by  a  new  and  a 
more  commodious  structure,  erected  and  paid  for  by  the 
members  and  friends  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  at  a 
cost  of  over  $6,000.  In  this  the  M.  E.  Church,  North, 
took  no  part,  paid  no  money  and  claimed  no  interest. 
In  1863,  ten  years  thereafter,  a  Eev.  Mr.  Stewart  was 
sent  to  Lagrange  by  the  M.  E.  Church,  North.  This 
man  professed  great  friendship  for  Southern  Methodists, 
and  made  himself  free  and  easy  in  their  homes.  The 
church  was  only  occupied  two  Sabbaths  in  the  month, 
and  Mr.  Stewart  applied  for  the  use  of  it  when  it  was 
unoccupied.  To  this  the  owners  objected  at  first.  Mr. 
Stewart  was  offered  the  use  of  the  German  Methodist 
Church,  but  it  did  not  suit  his  purpose,  and  he  urged  his 
application  for  the  Southern  Methodist  Church.  It  was 
objected  to  by  a  large  number  of  the  members  upon  the 
ground  that  other  churches  in  the  State  had  been  seized 
and  possessed  by  them,  some  in  one  way  and  some  in 
another,  and  they  feared  this  might  be  a  ruse  de  guerre. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  207 

Mr.  Stewart  finally  pledged  his  honor  as  a  Christian 
gentleman  and  minister  to  return  the  key  every  week 
to  the  trustees.  This  he  did  regularly  until  January, 
1865,  when  his  quarterly  meeting  was  held  in  the  Church, 
and  the  Quarterly  Conference  appointed  a  hoard  of 
trustees  and  authorized  them  to  hold  possession  of  the 
property.  Upon  this  action  Rev.  Mr.  Stewart  went  out 
in  town,  purchased  a  lock,  employed  a  carpenter  and 
had  it  put  on  in  place  of  the  old  one.  He  could  then 
return  both  lock  and  key  with  impunity. 

The  trustees  thus  raised  and  authorized  to  act  for  the 
M.  E.  Church  served  the  following  notice  on  the  trus 
tees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South : 

"  LAGRANGE,  LEWIS  COUNTY,  Mo.,  Feb.  13, 1865. 

(f  To  John  Munn,  J.  C.  Goodrich  and  others,  Trustees  of 
of  j\[.  E.  Church,  South : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Having  a  just  and  legal  claim  to  the 
property  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  Lagrange, 
as  trustees  of  said  church,  we  hereby  notify  you  that 
we  intend  to  hold  said  property  for  the  use  and  benefit 
of. the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Methodist  Episco 
pal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,  according 
to  the  Discipline  and  Rules  of  said  Church,  and  the  pro 
visions  of  deed  recorded  in  Book  C,  page  341,  Lewis 
county  Records.  We  have  accordingly  taken  possession 
of  the  herein  mentioned  property. 

"Done  by  order  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  Lagrange 
M.  E.  Church.  W.  M.  REDDING, 

"  President  Board  of  Trustees. 

.  ""W.   C.  STEWART,    Sect'ry  pro  tern,  and  Preacher  in 
charge." 

They  had  cither  been  waiting  a  suitable  opportunity 


208  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

or  a  new  light  had  suddenly  dawned  upon  them  from 
some  Episcopal,  military  or  other  throne  of  light 
and  power,  that  they  had  been  using,  by  gracious  privi 
lege  and  courtesy,  property  to  which  they  had  "a  just 
and  legal  claim,"  and  they  acted  accordingly.  It  may 
be  characterized  as  at  least  very  cool. 

Possession  is  said  to  be  nine  points  of  the  law;  and, 
if  the  adage  is  true,  the  manner  of  gaining  possession 
will  not  necessarily  raise  any  curious  questions  of 
casuistry.  The  how  will  not  vitiate  the  nine  points, 
when  a  new  lock  and  key  with  an  extra  share  of  loyalty 
can  make  up  and  meet  every  other  point  in  the  legal 
decalogue.  It  only  remained  for  them  to  serve  the 
usual  notification,  to  save  the  form  of  the  thing,  and 
appoint  Col.  W.  M.  Bedding  President  of  the  Board, 
and  Colonel  of  a  regiment  of  Lewis  county  militia — -not 
a  member  of  any  church — to  hold  the  property  in  peace 
able  possession.  This  duty  h§  performed  faithfully; 
for  which  service  he  received,  in  the  Central  Advocate 
of  Dec.  20,  1865,  the  title  of  "the  faithful  guardian  of 
the  interests  of  the  M.  E.  Church  in  LaGrange,  Mo." 

A  member  of  the  LaGrange  Quarterly  Conference,  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  from  whom  much  of  the  above  infor 
mation  was  obtained,  writes  as  follows : 

Cl  The  next  step,"  after  taking  possession  and  serving 
notice,  "  was  the  exhibition  of  Christian  charity  (?)  to 
us  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  by  a  polite  offer  to  loan 
us  the  use  of  their  (?)  house  for  our  religious  worship. 
But  we  'had  not  so  learned  Christ.'  How  could  we  be 
partakers  with  thieves  and  robbers?  'My  house  shall 
be  called  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den 
of  thieves.' 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  209 

"  Our  house  had  been  solemnly  dedicated  to  the  wor 
ship  of  Almighty  God  by  Bishop  Marvin  when  there 
was  no  name  or  membership  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North, 
in  the  place ;  we  say,  let  that  consecration  abide,  and 
let  God  defend  the  right.  We  can  worship  there  no 
more  until  the  law,  with  the  whip  of  justice,  shall  drive 
those  who  trouble  us  to  their  own  place." 

A  letter  in  the  Central  Christian  Advocate,  of  Dec.  20, 
1865,  from  Eev.  W.  C.  Stewart,  contains  the  following 
paragraph  : 

"When  I  was  in  LaGrange  I  had  the  honor  to  organ 
ize  a  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  by 
their  authority  to  take  possession  of  the  valuable  house 
of  worship  there,  previously  in  the  hands  of  the  Church, 
South.  In  this  movement  Col.  W.  M.  Redding  took  a 
most  prominent  and  efficient  part.  He  is  still  the  faith 
ful  guardian  of  our  Church  property  in  LaGrange." 

This  Col.  Redding  was  once  a  member  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  but  withdrew  some  time  before  this 
transaction,  declaring  when  he  did  so  that  the  time 
would  come  when  a  Southern  Methodist  could  not  live 
in  that  county.  He  was  a  prepared  instrument  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  North,  and  well  fitted  for  their  special 
work,  as  he  had  once  been  a  negro  trader  to  the  South, 
and  had  the  price  of  that  human  chattel  in  his  pocket. 
A  little  power  makes  good  Radical  leaders  and  instru 
ments  of  such  men. 

Mr.  Stewart  exults  in  "the  honor  of  organizing  a 
Board  of  Trustees,  and  by  their  authority  taking  pos 
session  of  the  valuable  house  of  worship  formerly  in  the 
hands  of  the  Church,  South."  The  said  "honor"  is 
now  made  permanent  and  transmitted  to  posterity. 


210  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Some  honors  burst  like  the  bubble,  others  are  as  endur 
ing  as  marble.  "  Some  men's  sins  are  open  beforehand,, 
going  before  to  judgment,  and  some  men  they  follow 
after."  This  same  Stewart  went  over  to  the  Congrega 
tion  alists. 

The  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  brought 
suit  for  possession  in  a  civil  magistrate's  court.  It  was 
appealed  to  the  Circuit  Court  for  Lewis  county  by  de 
fendants,  and  then  by  same  party,  upon  a  change  of 
venue,  taken  to  Shelby  county,  "\Vhon  called  in  the 
Circuit  Court  in  Shelby ville  they  were  not  ready  for 
trial.  But  they  had  brought  suit  in  the  same  court  to 
test  or  recover  the  title,  to  which  a  demurrer  was  filed 
on  the  ground  that  they  had  not  kept  up  a  perpetual 
Board  of  Trustees  from  the  date  of  deed  in  1838.  They 
had  a  Board  whose  history  and  authority  dated  back 
only  to  January  30,  1865.  To  prevent  a  non-suit  they 
asked  a  continuance,  which  was  granted.  Before  the 
session  of  the  Court  in  November,  1866,  they  asked  the 
Church,  South,  to  compromise,  by  referring  the  whole 
case  to  three  men  for  arbitration.  When  this  was 
agreed  to  both  parties  gave  bond  in  the  sum  of  8500  to 
abide  the  decision.  February  1,  1867,  was  set  for  hear 
ing  by  the  arbitrators.  When  the  case  was  stated  by  the 
Church,  South,  the  other  party  asked  leave  to  withdraw 
the  bond.  To  this  objections  were  made,  and  they 
wrangled  over  it  till  four  o'clock  p.  M.  The  Church, 
]STorth,  asked  a  continuance  till  nine  o'clock  the  next 
morning.  This  was  granted,  and  at  the  appointed  time 
the}r  appeared  and  revoked  their  bond,  saying  that  they 
preferred  to  have  the  case  tried  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  "United  States,  and  would  make  it  a  precedent  for 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  211 

Missouri.  "Whether  this  course  was  intended  only  for 
delay  their  subsequent  declaration — that  they  did  not 
expect  to  be  ready  for  trial  for  ten  years — is  the  best 
interpretation. 

Wearied  out  of  all  patience  with  such  miserable  ter 
giversation,  the  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
headed  by  their  pastor,  Kev.  T.  J.  Starr,  prepared  to 
bring  suit  again,  believing  that  their  only  hope  was  in 
the  civil  courts.  As  soon  as  Col.  Kedding  and  those 
who  acted  with  him  found  that  they  would  have  to  meet 
the  case  in  the  civil  courts  they  proposed  a  compromise, 
which,  during  the  absence  of  the  preacher  in  charge,  was 
accepted.  This  compromise  gave  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  a  quit-claim  deed  to  less  than  half  the  two  lots 
with  the  new  church,  and  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  a 
similar  deed  to  the  old  church  with  the  rest  of  the  two 
lots.  The  old  church  was  just  back  of  the  new,  and 
within  a  few  feet  of  it.  To  settle  the  difficulty  and  have 
peace,  the  rightful  owners  of  the  whole  property  had  to 
quit-claim  half  of  it  to  their  enemies,  and  pay  more 
than  half  the  costs  of  suits,  for  the  gracious  favor  of  a 
quit-claim  deed  to  the  other  half  of  their  own  property, 
and  the  peaceful  possession  of  their  own  house  of  wor 
ship  in  a  greatly  damaged  condition.  But,  then,  our 
people  have  so  long  been  inured  to  privation,  wrong 
and  persecution,  that  they  will  purchase  peace  and  the 
privileges  of  unmolested  worship  at  almost  any  price  but 
that  of  honor  and  integrity.  What  are  houses  and  lands 
and  earthly  possessions  to  the  integrity  and  purity  of 
the  "Kingdom  of  Heaven"  and  its  unperverted  insti 
tutions  ? 

In  the  statistics  of  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  Con- 


212  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  this  Church  property  at 
LaGrange  is  returned  as  the  property  of  that  Church,  at 
an  estimated  value  of  $12,000. 

The  Conference  session  of  1866  adopted  the  following : 

"Resolved,  That  the  pastor  of  LaGrange  be  authorized 

to  go  outside  the  Conference  limits  to  procure  funds  to 

meet  the  expenses  of  defending  the  title  to  the  Church 

property  of  the   Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at  La- 

Crrange. 

(Signed)  "W.  C.  STEWART. 

«T.  B.   BRATTON. 
"T.  J.  WILLIAMS." 
Comment  is  unnecessary. 

CHURCH  IN  LOUISIANA. 

The  history  of  the  Church  property  case  in  Louisiana, 
Missouri,  furnishes  peculiarities  of  a  nature  that  will 
bear  a  little  attention  to  the  details.  It  is  about  as 
follows : 

In  1853  a  deed  to  a  lot  of  ground  in  the  city  was 
made  by  Edward  G.  McQuie  and  wife  to  Edwin  Draper, 
John  S.  Markley,  John  W.  Allen,  Samuel  O.  Minor, 
John  Shurmur,  Joseph  Charleville,  Ivey  Zumwalt, 
David  Watson  and  Thomas  T.  Stokes,  as  trustees  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  to  hold  in  trust  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  said  Church.  Consideration,  $500.  Soon 
thereafter  a  commodious  church  edifice  was  erected  on 
the  lot  and  dedicated  to  the  worship  of  God  in  the  name 
and  for  the  benefit  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  It  was 
occupied  and  used  by  them  unmolested  until  1862. 

In  the  meantime  vacancies  had  occurred  in  the  orig- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  213 

inal  Board  of  Trustees  by  the  death  of  David  Watson 
and  the  removal  from  the  State  of  Thos.  T.  Stokes. 

These  vacancies  had  been  filled  by  the  regular 
authority  of  the  Church,  and  according  to  law,  by  the 
appointment  and  election  of  Samuel  S.  Allen  and  Wm. 
A.  Gunn,  as  seen  in  the  records  of  the  Quarterly  Con 
ference  for  Louisiana  Station.  But  this  fact  did  not 
prevent  the  tools  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North,  from  de 
vising  a  bold  scheme  that  would  put  them  in  possession 
of  the  Church  property.  They  could  not  claim  that  the 
property  was  originally  deeded  to  the  M.  E.  Church 
and  afterward  wrested  from  the  rightful  owners,  as  in 
the  cases  at  Lexington,  Independence,  LaGrange,  Boon- 
ville,  etc.  That  plea  could  not  serve  them  in  this  case, 
and  to  accomplish  their  purpose  they  devised  another. 
It  was  this.  An  ex  parte  petition  was  filed  in  the  Louisi 
ana  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  setting  forth  the  fact  of 
the  above  mentioned  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
and  praying  the  Court  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by 
the  death  of  David  Watson  by  the  appointment  of 
Charles  Hunter,  and  to  appoint  Eobt.  S.  Strother  to  fill 
the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  removal  of  T.  T.  Stokes. 
This  petition,  as  it  now  stands  on  the  records  of  the 
Court,  was  signed  by  Edwin  Draper,  John  S.  Markley, 
John  W.  Allen,  Ivey  Zumwalt ,  Samuel  O.  Minor,  Jos. 
Charleville  and  John  Shurmur,  and  was  granted  July 
21,  1862. 

On  the  second  day  thereafter  (July  23,  '62,)  Samuel 
O.  Minor,  John  W.  Allen,  Ivey  Zumwalt,  W.  A.  Gunn 
and  S.  8.  Allen  filed  a  petition  asking  the  court  to  va 
cate  the  order  appointing  Hunter  and  Strother,  and  set 
forth  the  following  facts  why  the  order  should  be  set 


214  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

aside  :  They  admitted  the  vacancies  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  Watson  and  the  removal  of  Stokes,  but  set 
forth  from  the  Church  records  that  on  the  21st  day  of 
January,  1861,  Rev.  AY.  M.  ISTewland,  then  preacher  in 
charge,  nominated,  and  the  Quarterly  Conference  elected, 
W.  A.  G-umi  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death 
of  said  Watson,  and  that  the  other  vacancy  was  filled  by 
the  nomination  and  election  of  Samuel  S.  Allen,  April  28, 
1862,  Rev.  "W.  G.  Miller  then  being  preacher  in  charge. 
They,  therefore,  allege  that  at  the  time  of  the  appoint 
ment  by  the  court  of  Hunter  and  Strother  no  vacancy 
existed,  the  same  having  been  filled  according  to  the 
law  of  the  Church  made  and  provided,  and  therefore 
the  order  of  the  court  ought  to  be  vacated. 

They  further  represented  that  the  names  of  John  "W. 
Allen,  Samuel  0.  Minor  and  Ivey  Zuinwalt  were  used 
in  the  original  petition  without  their  knowledge  or  con 
sent,  and  insisted  that  the  order  should  be  set  aside  for 
that  reason. 

Both  the  petitioners  and  community  were  astonished 
when  the  court  refused  to  vacate  the  order,  and  the  only 
recourse  was  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Mis 
souri  on  a  writ  of  error.  It  may  not  be  improper  to 
state  in  this  place  that  Judge  G-ilchrist  Porter,  then  on 
the  bench  of  that  Judicial  District,  presided  j  and  Thos, 
J.  C.  Fagg,  then  Judge  of  the  Louisiana  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas,  was  counsel  for  the  M.  E.  Church,  Xorth,  in 
his  own  court. 

The  cause  was  argued  July  24,  '62,  and  the  petition 
overruled.  The  petitioners  filed  a  bill  of  exceptions 
and  the  case  went  up  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

The  case  was  not  heard  in  the  Supreme  Court  until 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  215 

January  10,  1866,  when  the  judgment  of  the  court  be 
low  was  reversed  and  the  case  dismissed  upon  the  ground 
of  irregularity  and  informality. 

As  this  case  may  involve  several  legal  points  of  im 
portance  to  the  Church,  it  may  be  proper  to  transfer  so 
much  of  the  decision  and  rulings  of  the  court  to  these 
pages  as  will  be  of  general  application. 

S.  S.  Allen,  Esq.,  for  plaintiffs  in  error,  submitted  the 
following  points  of  law,  and  the  court  ruled  accordingly  : 

"1.  The  Church,  by  means  of  its  preacher  in  charge 
and  Quarterly  Conference,  had  full  and  ample  power  to 
fill  vacancies  in  its  board  of  trustees  (see  'Doctrines  and 
Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,'  p.  254). 

"2.  Over  the  Church,  as  such,  the  temporal  courts 
of  this  country  most  clearly  have  no  jurisdiction,  except 
to  protect  them,  and  to  protect  the  civil  rights  of  others, 
and  to  preserve  the  public  peace,  none  of  which  were 
necessary  in  this  case  (see  Baptist  Church  in  Hartford, 
vs.  Wittnell,  3  Paige,  Cli.  301;  Sawyer  vs.  Cipperly, 
7  Paige,  281  etc.) 

"3.  There  were  no  vacancies  in  the  board  when  the 
court  below  acted,  said  vacancies  having  been  duly  filled 
by  the  preacher  and  Conference  long  before  the  court 
acted.  (Sec  i Minutes  of  the  Conference.') 

"Dyer  &  Campbell  for  defendants  in  error. 

"  Lovelace,  Judge,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court." 

In  this  opinion  the  court  holds  the  following  language, 
after  a  statement  of  the  case  : 

"  The  case  is  not  free  from  difficulties.  The  court  be 
low  seemed  to  be  acting  under  the  statute  concerning 
{  Trusts  and  Trustees.'  But  this  case  docs  not  fall  within 
the  statute,  for  that  only  provides  for  appointing  trus- 


216  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

tees  in  deeds  of  trust  made  to  secure  the  payment  of  a 
debt  or  other  liability.  E.  C.  1855,  p.  1554,  §1.)  So  in 
this  case,  it  would  seem  that  the  parties  must  resort  to 
their  equitable  remedy  to  prevent  the  trust  from  being 
defeated  for  want  of  a  trustee. 

"  There  are  more  informalities  than  appear  upon  the 
record,  but  they  are  not  alluded  to  by  either  party. 
The  question  presented  by  the  parties  is,  whether  there 
are  vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  to  be  filled.  Both 
parties  admit  that  there  have  been  vacancies,  but  the 
defendants  contend  that  the  vacancies  have  been  filled 
by  the  Church  according  to  the  rule  and  discipline  of 
that  Church,  and  the  evidence  proves  conclusively  that 
the  board  of  trustees  for  church  purposes,  under  the 
rules  and  discipline  of  the  Church,  had  been  filled ;  but 
whether,  under  the  peculiarities  of  this  deed,  the  legal 
title  to  the  property  described  in  the  deed  will  descend 
to  the  trustees  thus  appointed  seems  doubtful. 

"  The  uses  and  purposes  for  which  the  property  is  to 
be  used  is  not  expressed  in  the  deed,  but  the  property  is 
merely  deeded  to  the  petitioners,  naming  them,  together 
with  Watson  and  Stokes,  describing  them  as  '  Trustees 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South/  and  to  them 
and  their  successors  in  office,  lawfully  appointed,  for 
ever,  for  a  consideration  of  five  hundred  dollars.  It  is 
not  stated,  except  as  mentioned  in  the  deed,  though  it 
may  perhaps  be  inferred  that  the  petitioners  at  the  time 
of  the  conveyance  were  in  fact  trustees  of  the  Church, 
appointed  by  the  Church  under  its  rules  and  discipline ; 
nor  does  it  appear  who  furnished  the  money  to  purchase 
the  property.  If  it  was  furnished  by  the  Church,  then, 
most  certainly,  the  court,  upon  proper  application,  would 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  217 

order  these  plaintiffs  to  convey  it  to  such  person  or  per 
sons  as  the  Church  might  name,  to  hold  it  for  their  use 
and  benefit;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  the  money  was 
furnished  by  these  plaintiffs,  the  naked  fact  that  the 
grantors  in  the  deed  have  described  them  as  '  Trustees 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South/  would  not 
of  itself  operate  to  destroy  their  interest  in  the  property. 
In  the  former  case  they  would  hold  the  property  in  trust 
for  the  Church,  and  would  be  compelled  to  convey  to 
any  persons  the  Church  might  nominate  to  receive  it; 
but  this  could  only  be  done  upon  proof  of  the  fact  that 
the  Church  furnished  the  money  with  which  the  prop 
erty  was  purchased. 

"  3.  Upon  the  face  of  this  deed  the  property  belongs 
to  the  grantees  in  the  deed  ;  and  to  divest  them  of  the 
title  it  must  be  shown  aliunde  that  the  purchase  money 
was  furnished  by  the  Church.  The  legal  title  is  in  the 
grantees ;  but  in  case  somebody  else  furnished  the  pur 
chase  money,  then  the  grantees  will  be  regarded  as 
holding  the  property  for  whomsoever  furnished  the 
purchase  money. 

"If,  then,  the  above  views  be  correct,  there  can  be  no 
question  of  vacancy  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  as  respects 
this  property  until  the  question  of  the  title  is  first  settled. 
If  it  belongs  to  the  grantees,  no  trustees  are  necessary; 
they  can  manage  it  for  themselves.  If  the  Church  is 
entitled  to  it,  then  the  grantees  must  first  be  divested  of 
their  title,  and  the  title  vested  in  some  person  or  persons 
for  the  use  of  the  Church.  The  proceedings  here  are 
irregular  and  premature.  The  judgment  must  bo 
reversed  and  the  cause  dismissed.  The  other  judges 


218  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

Pending  this  case  Mr.  Allen,  counsel  for  plaintiffs  in 
error,  made  a  very  able  argument  upon  the  relation  of 
the  Church  to  the  civil  government.  He  took  high 
ground  upon  the  separate  and  distinct  jurisdictions  of 
Church  and  State,  as  understood  by  our  fathers  and 
as  developed  in  this  country  under  the  genius  of  oar 
government.  He  characterized  severely  the  efforts 
made  by  partisan  fanatics  to  confound  in  fact  what  was 
distinct  in  law,  and  to  unite  the  Church  with  the  State 
for  purposes  of  ecclesiastical  power  and  political  cor 
ruption.  His  argument  was  well  worth  preserving. 

The  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  effect  sent  the 
case  back  for  a  trial  of  the  rights  of  property,  for  which 
suit  was  immediately  brought  in  the  Circuit  Court.  But 
under  the  operation  of  the  order  of  the  Court  of  Com 
mon  Pleas  of  June  31,  1862,  the  church  property  passed 
out  of  the  possession  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  to 
whom  it  was  originally  deeded,  and  into  the  possession  of 
the  self  and  court-constituted  Board  of  Trustees,  for  the 
use  and  benefit  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North.  The  prop 
erty  was  used  by  them  from  July  21, 1862,  to  some  time  in 
the  spring  of  1867.  In  March,  1867,  a  letter  was  ad 
dressed  by  a  number  of  the  trustees  to  the  presiding  elder 
and  preacher  in  charge  of  Louisiana  Station,  who  were 
supposed  to  have  influence  with  the  authorities  of  the 
Church  then  holding  and  using  the  property,  asking  their 
kindly  offices  and  services  in  an  honorable  and  amicable 
adjustment  of  the  difficulty  and  the  return  of  the  prop 
erty  to  the  rightful  owners. 

The  following  answer  was  elicited  : 

"LOUISIANA,  Mo.,  March  21, 1867. 
"  Messrs.  Sam.  S.  Allen,  W.  A.  G-unn  and  others,  members 

of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Louisiana,  Mo.  : 

"  G-ENTLEMEN  :  Your  communication  of  the  4th  instant 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  219 

is  received  and  would  have  been  answered  sooner  but 
we  have  not  had  time  since  its  reception  for  consultation 
until  yesterday.  We  would  gladly  do  anything  in  our 
power  to  bring  about  an  honorable  adjustment  of  the 
matter  of  which  you  write,  but  as  the  controversy  is 
between  you  and  the  trustees  of  the  church,  we  are 
wholly  without  authority  in  the  premises,  and  therefore 
have  no  right  to  advise  the  board  of  trustees  how  they 
shall  settle  the  matter.  If  we  had  the  power  to  act,  our 
action  would  fully  recognize  the  asserted  rights  of  the 
trustees  until  the  proper  legal  tribunal  decides  the  ques 
tion.  We  will  not,  however,  be  in  the  way  of  any  com 
promise  which  the  parties  may  be  able  to  make.  With 
assurances  of  personal  regard,  we  are,  gentlemen, 
"  Yours  very  truly, 

"NAT.  SHUMATE. 
«J.  S.  BARWICK." 

They  declined  to  interfere  in  the  matter  as  long  aa 
they  could  hold  and  use  the  Church  property.  But,  as 
in  other  cases,  when  they  found  that  they  had  no  shadow 
of  title,  and  could  not  even  frame  another  pretext  for 
holding  on  to  the  property,  they  were  magnanimous 
enough  to  propose  or  accept  a  compromise  by  which  the 
property  could  go  back  into  the  hands  of  the  rightful 
owners  without  the  humiliation  of  being  forced  by  law 
to  pay  damages  and  rents,  which  a  common  honesty 
demanded. 

The  suit  for  title  was  stricken  from  the  docket  with 
out  being  heard,  and  those  who  bought  the  lot  and  built 
and  paid  for  the  church  are  again  in  possession  of  their 
own  ;  albeit  they  were  kept  out  of  the  use  of  it  for  nearly 
five  years,  and  then  received  it  in  a  condition  that  re- 


220  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

quired  extensive  repairs,  for  which  those  who  had  used 
and  damaged  it  had  no  disposition  to  pay  a  single  dollar. 
Thus  one  by  one  the  property  that  was  taken  from  the 
Church,  South,  was  restored,  after  being  used  and  abused 
by  "  our  friends,  the  enemy." 

It  does  not  add  any  thing  to  the  credit  of  the  North 
ern  Church  to  record  the  fact  that  this  church,  also,  was 
reported  in  the  statistics  of  the  Conference,  valued  at 
$5,000. 

To  those  who  have  believed  the  reiterated  statements 
of  the  Northern  Methodist  preachers  and  press,  that 
they  never  seized,  possessed  or  used  any  property  that 
belonged  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  these  facts,  fur 
nished  by  reliable  men  and  taken  from  official  records, 
are  commended.  The  facts  are  humiliating  enough 
without  the  reflections  suggested  by  them. 

SUPPLEMENT. 

The  following  able  argument  in  the  Louisiana  Church 
property  case,  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State, 
made  by  Smith  S.  Allen,  Esq.,  of  Hannibal,  Mo.,  counsel 
for  plaintiffs  in  error,  is  not  only  a  part  of  the  history 
of  the  case,  but  too  valuable  and  vital  to  the  great 
questions  at  issue  to  be  lost.  It  may  very  properly 
supplement  this  chapter,  as  its  merits  demand  a  more 
permanent  form  than  the  newspaper  columns.  It  will 
be  perused  with  interest,  especially  by  the  legal  profes 
sion,  and  will  not  be  without  interest  and  profit  to  the 
general  reader. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  221 

Edwin  Draper  and   others,  ") 

ex  parte  petitioners  and 

defendants  in  error.  !  Error  from  the  Louisiana 

'  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
Sam'l  O.  Minor  and  others, 

plaintiffs  in  error. 

If  the  Court  please:  The  extraordinary  conduct  of 
part  of  the  ex  parte  petitioners  and  defendants  in  error 
in  this  case  is  perhaps  sufficiently  disclosed  in  the  writ 
ten  statement  of  facts  filed  by  plaintiffs,  which  I  have 
already  drawn  up  and  placed  on  the  files  of  the  Court. 
This  part  of  my  subject  I  will,  however,  with  the  in 
dulgence  of  the  Court,  consider  more  fully  hereafter. 

This  case,  on  the  face  of  the  ex  parte  petition,  appears 
to  be  an  application  by  seven  of  the  trustees  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  at  Louisiana,  Mis 
souri,  made  to  the  Louisiana  Court  of  Common  Pleas, 
to  have  two  pretended  vacancies  in  that  Board  of 
Trustees  filled  by  appointment  of  that  Court.  These 
seven  ex  parte  petitioners  on  the  face  of  the  petition  are 
Edwin  Draper,  John  S.  Markley,  John  TV.  Allen,  Samuel 
O.  Minor,  John  Shurmur,  Joseph  Charleville  and  Ivy 
Zumwalt. 

But  in  fact  this  is  not  the  application  of  three  of  the 
pretended  petitioners,  to-wit,  Samuel  O.  Minor,  Ivy 
Zumwalt  and  John  TV.  Allen ;  on  the  contrary,  these 
three  gentlemen  are  indignant  at  the  proceedings.  As 
evidence  of  this  I  will  here  state  that  they  became,  and 
are,  parties  to  the  motion  to  set  aside  the  order  of  the 
Court  below  appointing  Strother  and  Hunter  to  fill  the 
pretended  vacancies.  By  their  affidavit,  appended  to 
said  motion,  they  and  each  of  them  solemnly  swear  that 


222  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

said  ex  parte  petition  was  gotten  up,  and  their  names 
used  therein  as  petitioners;  without  their  knowledge  or 
consent  and  against  their  will ;  and  that  the  same  was 
filed  and  the  unjust  and  illegal  action  of  the  Court  be 
low  had  thereon  without  their  knowledge  or  consent. 

These  gentlemen  must  not,  therefore,  be  considered 
as  acting  in  concert  with  Draper,  Markley  and  others, 
but  must,  in  justice  to  them  and  to  their  action  in  the 
premises,  and  to  their  said  affidavits,  be  regarded  as 
honest  and  candid  objectors  to  the  petition  and  to  the 
action  of  the  Court  thereon. 

These  three  gentlemen  stood  before  the  court  below 
on  the  hearing  of  the  motion  to  set  aside  its  illegal  order 
and  made  known  these  facts  and  verified  them  by  their 
affidavits,  and  asked  the  court  to  revoke  and  set  aside 
,its  order.  And  they,  with  Minor  and  Gunn,  now  stand 
before  this  court  in  the  person  of  their  counsel  and  ask 
that  said  order  may  be  set  aside.  And  in  this  they 
simply  ask  that  that  justice  may  be  done  to  them  which 
was  strangely  and  wrongfully  denied  by  the  court  below. 

Here  we  have  the  strange  spectacle  of  three  men,  on 
whose  petition  this  order  seems  to  have  been  made,  com 
ing  in  and  disclaiming  the  whole  thing  and  asking  this 
court  to  set  it  aside. 

As  a  legal  proposition  I  maintain  :  First,  that  in  this 
country  the  widest  latitude  is  given  by  law  to  religious 
sentiment ;  and  second,  that  the  temporal  courts  have 
no  jurisdiction  over  churches  or  church  judicatories  or 
church  members,  as  such,  except  simply  to  protect  them, 
to  protect  the  civil  rights  of  others,  and  to  preserve  the 
public  peace. 

In   the   case  of  the   Baptist  Church  in  Hartford  vs. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  223 

Witherell,  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  in  the  Slate  of  !Ncw 
York,  Chancellor  "Wai worth,  in  delivering  the  opinion 
of  the  court,  says : 

"  Over  the  Church,  as  such,  the  legal  or  temporal  tri 
bunals  of  this  country  do  not  profess  to  have  any  juris 
diction  whatever,  except  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  protect 
the  civil  rights  of  others  and  to  preserve  the  public 
peace."  (See  3  Paige  Reports,  301.) 

So  in  the  case  of  Lawyer  vs.  Ceppcrly,  the  same  court 
decides  substantially  the  same  thing.  (7  Paige  Chancery 
Reports,  281 ;  see  also  Angel  &  Ames  on  Corporations, 
sec.  58,  page  28,  note  1,  page  29  ;  Stebbins  vs.  Jennings, 
10  Pickering  Rep.,  172;  Gable  vs.  Miller,  10  Paige  Rep., 
627.) 

I  am  fully  aware  that  courts  of  chancery  have  ample 
jurisdiction  to  determine  questions  touching  the  legal 
title  to  church  property,  real  or  personal;  and  that  in 
order  to  protect  a  Church  in  the  enjoyment  of  its  corpo 
rate  property  that  court  might  appoint  trustees. 

But  even  this  is  to  be  understood  with  some  limitation. 
Suppose,  for  example,  that  a  church  has  full  and  ample 
power  by  its  own  church  laws,  church  courts  and  judi- 
catories  to  .protect  itself  or  to  put  itself  in  a  condition 
where  it  will  not  need  the  action  of  the  temporal  court, 
ought  the  temporal  court  to  interfere  f  Most  clearly  not. 

And  more  particularly  the  temporal  court  ought  not 
to  interfere  in  this  case,  for  the  following  six  plain  and 
sufficient  reasons :  First,  because  there  is  no  cpntcst  in 
this  case  about  property;  second,  because  no  title  is  in 
volved;  third,  because  no  possession  is  asked  for;  fourth, 
because  no  obedience  to  rightful  authority  or  authority 
of  any  kind  is  sought  to  be  enforced;  ffth,  becr.use  no 


224  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

wrong  is  sought  to  be  prevented ;  and  sixth,  because  no 
injury  to  the  church  is  sought  to  be  avoided. 

If  protection  to  church  property  required  that  Hunter 
and  Strother  should  be  put  into  this  Board  of  Trustees, 
the  Church,  by  means  of  its  preacher  in  charge  and 
Quarterly  Conference,  had  full  power  to  put  them  there 
to  fill  vacancies  without  action  of  the  court  below,  pro 
vided  vacancies  existed.  The  church  law  on  the  subject 
of  appointing  a  Board  of  Church  Trustees  and  filling 
vacancies  therein  is  found  on  page  254  of  a  book  entitled 
"  The  Doctrines  and  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episco 
pal  Church,  South."  It  is  a  book  of  universal  authority 
in  that  Church,  as  we  all  know,  and  was  largely  referred 
to  by  all  parties  to  this  contest  on  the  trial  in  the  court 
below,  as  is  fully  shown  by  the  Bill  of  Exceptions.  At 
page  254  I  find  the  following  plain  and  simple  provision  : 

"  In  the  appointment  of  Trustees,  except  where  the 
laws  of  the  State  or  Territory  provide  differently,  the 
preacher  in  charge,  or  in  his  absence  the  Presiding  Elder, 
shall  have  the  right  of  nomination,  subject  to  the  con 
firmation  or  rejection  of  the  Quarterly  Conference.  All 
vacancies  in  the  Board  of  Trustees  occasioned  by  death, 
separation  from  our  Church,  or  otherwise,  shall  be  filled 
without  delay." 

This,  then,  is  full  and  clear,  and  confers  ample 
authority  upon  the  preacher  in  charge  and  Quarterly 
Conference  to  appoint  trustees  for  the  Church  and  to  fill 
vacancies  without  the  aid  or  interference  of  the  temporal 
courts.  It  is  the  identical  same  provision  of  the  "  dis 
cipline  "  under  and  by  virtue  of  which  Draper,  Markley 
and  all  the  other  trustees  of  that  church  were  themselves 
appointed.  They  were  appointed  under  and  by  force 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  225 

of  this  provision  long  before  the  date  of  the  deed  of 
McQuie  and  wife  to  them  in  trust  for  the  Church.  Mc- 
Quie  and  wife  did  not  appoint  them.  They — McQuie 
and  wife — had  agreed  to  convey  to  the  Church  at  Louisi 
ana  certain  ground  for  a  certain  money  consideration 
paid  to  them  by  the  Church,  and  were  directed  by  the 
Church  to  convey,  and  did  convey,  to  its  board  of 
trustees  then  existing.  As  the  ground  was  purchased 
from  McQuie  and  wife,  and  full  value  received  for  the 
same,  therefore  McQuie  and  wife  had  no  right  to  appoint 
the  trustees,  as  they  would  have  had  if  they  had  donated 
and  given  the  lots.  The  Church  having  purchased  and 
paid  for  this  ground,  had  the  sole  right  to  say  to  whom 
it  should  1)3  conveyed.  If  the  Church  had  the  exclusive 
right  then  to  say  who  should  hold  its  property  in  trust 
for  it,  surely  it  has  that  right  now.  But  the  Court  be 
low  has  destroyed  that  right  by  placing  in  the  Board  of 
Trustees  two  men — Hunter  and  Strother — wrhom  the 
Church  did  not  select  in  its  appointed  way,  or  in  any 
other  way,  and  by  vesting  in  them  the  legal  title  to  its 
property  without  its  consent,  and  perhaps  against  its 
will.  Against  Messrs.  Hunter  and  Strother  I  have 

O 

nothing  to  say;  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence 
on  the  record,  or  anywhere  else,  to  show  that  the 
Church  at  Louisiana  is  pleased  with  them  or  desired 
their  services  in  the  Board. 

But  the  Church,  through  its  preacher  in  charge  and 
Quarterly  Conference,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  had 
power  to  appoint  trustees  and  to  fill  vacancies  in  the 
Board  when  vacancies  existed,  but  I  now  proceed  to 
show  that  it  actually  did  fill  said  vacancies — the  identi 
cal  same  vacancies  stated  in  this  ex  parte  petition  to 
15 


226  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

have  existed  at  the  time  of  the  filing  thereof — by  ap 
pointing  said  William  A.  Gunn  to  fill  the  vacancy 
created  by  the  death  of  said  Watson,  and  by  appointing 
said  Samuel  S.  Allen  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  said 
Stokes  ceasing  to  be  a  member  of  the  Church  and  leav 
ing  the  State.  To  prove  this  fact  I  beg  to  be  permitted 
to  read  to  this  Court  so  much  of  the  minutes  of  said 
Quarterly  Conference  as  may  be  necessary,  and  which 
was  copied  into  the  bill  of  exceptions  from  the  minutes 
themselves,  and  proves  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt,  and  is 
as  follows : 

11  On  motion  of  Brother  Newland,  preacher  in  charge 
of  this  (Louisiana)  Station,  Brother  W.  A.  Gunn  was 
nominated  and  confirmed  as  trustee  in  place  of  Bro. 
David  Watson,  deceased." 

Immediately  following  the  above  evidence  in  the  bill 
of  exceptions  I  will  read  further  evidence  in  these 
words  : 

"The  proceedings  of  said  Quarterly  Conference,  of 
which  the  above  is  part,  was  had  on  the  21st  day  of 
January,  A.  D.,  1861,  and  are  signed  by  B.  IT.  Spencer, 
presiding  elder,  and  attested  by  William  A.  Gunn; 
secretary." 

Surely  the  minutes  of  the  Quarterly  Conference  is  the 
best  evidence  of  what  it  did.  The  minutes  thus  authen 
ticated  by  Spencer  and  Gunn  are  as  conclusive  in  fact 
as  they  are  valid  in  law,  and  do  show  that  the  Watson 
vacancy  was  duly  filled  by  said  preacher  and  Conference 
just  one  year,  five  months  and  fifteen  days  before  the 
filing  of  the  exparte  petition  herein.  With  this  evidence 
before  him  can  any  man  believe,  or  can -any  court  de 
cide,  that  the  Watson  vacancy  existed  in  the  Board  of 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  227 

Trustees  when  the  petition  of  Draper  &  Co.  was  filed  ? 
Surely  not.  Then  what  right  had  the  Court  below  to 
fill  a  pretended  vacancy  that  in  fact  and  law  did  not 
exist  ?  Certainly  none  at  all. 

I  now  proceed  to  show  that  the  Stokes  vacancy  was 
also  a  mere  pretense,  and  did  not  exist  in  the  Board 
when  this  petition  was  filed,  having  been  filled  by  the 
preacher  in  charge  and  Quarterly  Conference  in  like 
manner  long  before  this  petition  was  filed  by  Draper 
and  others  in  the  court  below.  The  evidence  to  prove 
this  fact  is  equally  clear  and  conclusive.  I  will  read  to 
the  court  from  the  Bill  of  Exceptions,  in  these  words : 

"The  petitioners  also  offered  and  read  in  evidence 
another  portion  of  said  minutes,  proving  that  on  the  23d 
day  of  April,  A.  D.  1862,  and  at  said  Conference,  the 
Rev.  G.  "W.  Miller,  then  preacher  in  charge  of  said 
Louisiana  Station,  nominated  Bro.  Samuel  S.  Allen  as 
trustee,  to  fill  the  vacancy  created  by  the  withdrawal 
from  the  church  of  Thomas  T.  Stokes;  and  proving,  also, 
that  said  nomination  was  confirmed  by  said  Quarterly 
Conference  on  the  same  day." 

Thus  the  court  will  readily  see  that  the  Stokes  vacancy 
was  duly  filled  on  the  23d  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1862,  just 
two  months  and  twelve  days  before  this  petition  was 
filed.  To  say,  therefore,  that  the  Stokes  vacancy  ex 
isted  in  this  Board  at  the  time  of  the  filing  of  this 
ex  part ~e  petition  is  to  make  sport  of  language,  and  is,  in 
my  humble  opinion,  wholly  untrue.  To  say  that  the 
Watson  and  Stokes  vacancies  existed  in  this  Board 
when  this  petition  was  filed  is  to  deny  that  Gunn  and 
Samuel  S.  Allen  were  members  of  it.  And  to  deny  that 
Gunn  and  said  Allen  were  members  at  that  time,  is  to 


228  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

deny  that  the  petitioners  themselves  were  members  of 
it;  for  they  were  all,  as  we  have  already  seen,  appointed 
by  the  same  power  and  in  the  same  way — that,  is  by  the 
Church,  through  its  preacher  and  Conference.  In  short, 
to  deny  that  G-unn  and  said  Allen  were  members  of  said 
Board  when  this  petition  was  filed  is  to  deny  that  the 
Church  had  any  trustees  whatever. 

The  Board,  in  fact,  when  this  petition  was  filed,  con 
sisted  of  nine  members,  namely,  Draper,  Markley,  the 
two  Aliens — John  W.  and  Samuel  S. — Minor,  Shur- 
mur,  Charleville,  Zumwalt  and  Gunn,  nine  in  number, 
and  it  could  not  lawfully  contain  any  greater  number. 
(See  Discipline,  page  254.)  There  is,  therefore,  no  room 
in  the  Board  for  Strother  and  Hunter.  Samuel  S,  Allen 
and  "William  A.  Gunn  must  first  be  ejected  from  it,  and 
this  can  not  be  lawfully  done  without  first  giving  them 
reasonable  notice  and  a  chance  to  be  heard  in  the  court 
below.  In  this  case  there  was  no  notice  until  after  the 
court  below  had  acted ;  and  of  course  no  defense  was 
made.  The  action  of  the  court  below,  taken  without 
notice  to  these  parties,  is  void;  and  this  court  ought,  for 
that  reason  (if  for  no  other),  to  reverse  and  set  it  aside. 
Draper,  Markley,  Shurmur  and  Charleville  well  knew 
when  they  filed  this  petition  that  Gunn  and  Samuel  S. 
Allen  had  been  appointed  by  the  preacher  and  Confer 
ence  to  fill  the  only  vacancies  mentioned  in  the  petition. 
These  gentlemen — Draper  &  Co. — were  both  attending 
and  attentive  members  of  the  Board.  They  took  a 
lively  interest  in  whatever  affected  the  welfare  of  the 
Church.  They  had  acted  in  the  Board  with  Gunn  and 
Samuel  S.  Allen,  and  knew  when  they  filed  this  petition 
that  said  Gunn  and  Allen  had  been  appointed  to  fill  said 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  229 

vacancies  and  claimed  to  l>e  members  of  the  Board. 
But  why  they  desired  to  ignore  their  authority  and  pur 
posely  avoided  disclosing  the  fact  to  the  court  below  in 
their  petition,  we  are  left  to  conjecture. 

A  few  more  words  and  I  close.  The  very  aims  and 
objects  of  the  Churches  in  this  country  constitute  a 
powerful  reason  why  the  courts  should  refuse  to  inter 
fere  with  their  affairs.  ~No  man  can  reflect  upon  these 
aims  and  objects  for  one  moment  without  rejoicing  that 
he  lives  in  a  land  of  Bibles  and  Churches.  These 
Churches,  including  the  one  in  question,  aim  at  nothing 
less  than  the  promulgation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Gospel 
among  all  men ;  the  due  administration  of  scriptural 
ordinances;  the  promotion  of  works  of  piety  and  ben 
evolence;  the  revival  and  spread  of  scriptural  holiness, 
and,  in  short,  the  conversion  of  the  whole  world  to  the 
faith  and  practice  of  Christianity. 

An  organization  of  men  and  women  for  these  high 
and  holy  purposes  ought  to  be  permitted  to  chose  its 
own  officers  and  to  manage  its  own  affairs  in  its  own 
way.  Whenever  the  courts  of  the  country  have  inter 
fered  to  settle  Church  difficulties,  they  have  in  almost 
every  instance  created  new  and  more  serious  difficulty 
in  the  Church.  In  this  very  case  the  action  of  the  court 
below  has  already  produced  discord  and  alienation  in 
the  Church,  which  perhaps  will  never  be  cured.  It  has 
in  that  way,  beyond  all  question,  done  the  Church  ten 
times  more  harm  than  good. 

When  there  were  vacancies  in  the  Board  the  Church 
filled  them,  as  we  have  seen,  by  its  own  laws  and  in  its 
own  way,  and  there  were  no  complaints,  no  law-suits, 
no  alienations,  no  withdrawals  from  the  Church.  But 


230  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

when  this  petition  was  filed  in  the  court  below,  and 
acted  upon  by  that  court  without  notice  to  anybody, 
and  the  names  of  trustees  used  without  their  consent,  a 
large  portion  of  the  Church  was  uncharitable  enough  to 
suppose  that  advantage  was  sought  and  wrong  intended. 
Besides,  this  court  having  large  experience  in  the  affairs 
of  "men  will  readily  see  that  action  by  our  courts  in 
church  cases  gives  great  encouragement  to  discontented 
and  litigious  persons  to  annoy  the  Church  with  fruitless 
legal  proceedings,  and  thus  retard  its  progress  in  its 
great  work  of  mercy  and  benevolence.  Better,  far  bet 
ter,  is  it  for  all  parties,  and  for  the  cause  of  Christianity 
itself,  to  leave  these  difficulties  to  be  settled  in  the 
Church  where  they  originate. 

Thanking  this  Court  for  the  patient  hearing  which  it 
has  given  me  in  this  case,  and  hoping  your  Honors  will 
give  to  the  case  that  consideration  which  its  importance 
requires,  I  now  take  my  leave  of  it. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  231 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

CHURCH    SEIZURES  -  CONTINUED. 


Church  in  Boonville—  One  of  the  Oldest  Religious  Centers—  Rev.  J. 
N.  Pierce  and  Ins  Exploits  —  "An  Honest  Looker  On"  in  the  St. 
Louis  Christian  Advocate—  Circuit  Court  vs.  County  Court  and  J. 
N.  Pierce  —  Supreme  Court  —  Howard  et  al.  vs.  Pierce  —  Report 
and  Opinion  —  Circuit  Court  Sustained  —  John  N.  Pierce  et  al  Ex 
hibited  in  no  Enviable  Light  —  Legal  History  of  the  Case  —  Decision 
—  Points  to  be  Noted  —  Moral  Travestie  —  Judgment  of  Posterity  — 
Church  in  Springfield  —  How  Obtained  -How  Long  Used  —  How 
Released  —  Particulars  Reported  by  a  Committee  of  the  St.  Louis 
Conference  —  Church  in  Potusi  —  Statement  of  W.  S.  AVoodard  — 
Plattsburg,  Fillmore.  Macon,  Glasgow  and  other  Churches  — 
Strange  Assertion  —  Statistical  Value  of  Churches  Seized  over 
$100.000—  How  Restored—  Property  Rights  Secured  to  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South  —  Great  Moral  Courage  or  "Hard  Cheek"  —  "Mak 
ing  History  "—Martyrdom  of  Principle. 

CHURCH  IN  BOONVILLE. 

The  church  in  Boonville  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
honored  houses  of  worship  in  the  State.  Far  back  in 
the  history  of  Methodism  in  Missouri  the  Church  in 
Boonville  became  quite  a  center  of  religious  influence 
and  power  in  the  rich  and  fast-filling  counties  south  of 
the  Missouri  river  and  near  the  geographical  center  of 
the  State.  It  was  for  many  years  a  strong  base  of  ope 
rations  for  the  hardy  moral  pioneers  who  first  pene 
trated  that  part  of  the  State,  planted  the  first  standard 
of  Christianity  and  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations 
of  Methodism  in  the  wilderness  made  famous  by  the 
exploits  of  the  illustrious  hunter  and  pioneer,  Daniel 
Boone. 

Bishops  and  other  distinguished  men  of  the  Church 


232  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

have  stood  in  its  pulpit  and  preached  life  and  salvation 
to  the  multitudes.  Conferences  have  been  held,  and 
ministers  ordained,  and  sacraments  administered  in  its 
sacred  walls,  and  for  long  years  it  had  been  a  solid,  sub 
stantial  station,  supporting  some  of  the  finest  talent  in 
the  pulpit.  ISro  one  ever  thought  of  disturbing  the  rights 
of  property.  Before  the  division  in  1844  it  belonged  to 
the  M.  E.  Church.  After  that  event,  to  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South ;  and  for  over  twenty  years  the  latter  had  been 
in  undisturbed  possession.  If  the  M.  E.  Church,  North, 
had  an  organization  in  Boonville  at  all  before  the  war, 
it  was  very  feeble,  and  never  set  up  any  show  of  claim 
to  the  old  church  until  after  the  war  had  come  and  gone. 

In  February,  1866,  a  Rev.  J.  K  Pierce,  of  the  M.  E, 
Church,  North,  obtained  an  order  from  the  County  Court 
of  Cooper  county  putting  him  in  possession  of  the 
church  in  Boonville.  The  first  notice  or  information 
the  Trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  had  of  the 
proceedings  was  a  demand  upon  them  for  the  key  of  the 
church  by  said  Pierce,  by  the  authority  of  the  order  of 
the  County  Court.  The  trustees  promptly  refused  to 
give  up  the  key,  and  denied  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
County  Court  over  such  matters.  But  Mr.  Pierce  was 
not  to  be  defeated  in  that  way.  He  soon  obtained  skill 
ful  and  corrupt  help,  went  to  the  church,  forced  an  en 
trance,  removed  the  lock,  put  on  a  new  one  and  took 
formal  possession  in  the  name  of  his  Church. 

The  following  account  of  the  affair  was  furnished  at 
the  time  for  the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate  by  one 
who  subscribed  himself  "An  Honest  Looker-on"  and 
who  was  fully  endorsed  b}7  the  editor: 

"  MK.  EDITOR  :  It  affords  the  people  of  this  community 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  233 

pleasure  to  hear  from  other  quarters :  perhaps  others 
would  be  equally  interested  to  hear  from  us.  I  write 
more  especially  for  the  Church  which  I  believe  your 
paper  represents. 

"  The  pastor  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church,  ap 
pointed  by  the  last  session  of  the  Annual  Conference, 
took  charge  of  his  congregation  a  few  weeks  ago.  He 
had  not  been  here  more  than  two  or  three  weeks  before 
he  and  his  congregation  were  turned  out  of  doors  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  preacher  in  this  city.  First,  under 
pretense  of  an  order  from  the  County  Court,  he  de 
manded  the  key,  with  all  the  authority  usually  exhibited 
by  his  class  on  such  occasions.  Failing  in  this,  he  se 
cured  the  co-operation  of  a  few  kindred  spirits,  and. 
having  secured  the  services  of  one  skilled  in  such  mat 
ters,  proceeded  to  the  church  about  the  going  down  of 
the  sun,  effected  an  entrance,  removed  the  locks,  replaced 
them  with  new  ones,  and  took  possession  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord.  It  was  not  the  last  of  the  old  year,  but  it  is 
said  they  kept  watch-night,  it  being,  as  they  supposed, 
the  last  of  the  old  church.  Whether  their  devotions 
kept  pace  with  their  watchfulness  we  are  not  informed. 
We  are  told  that  they  affected  an  exercise  of  the  sort, 
at  least  for  a  time.  Meanwhile,  in  strict  conformity  to 
the  Scriptures,  they  watched,  also  having  their  scntries> 
armed  it  is  supposed,  stationed  at  the  door;  and,  not 
knowing  at  what  hour  the  thief  would  come,  they 
watched,  it  is  said,  until  the  morning.  If  they  expected 
any  interference  from  the  owners  and  former  occupants, 
they  have  yet  to  learn  that  it  will  not  do  in  every  case 
to  judge  others  by  themselves.  No  Judas  came  to  be 
tray  the  Master,  with  his  disciples,  into  the  hands  of  the 


234  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

chief  rulers,  for  it  is  said  that  some  of  the  latter  joined 
that  night  the  worshipers  and  watchers.  For  the  first 
time  in  many  years  their  hearts  inclined  them  to  go  to 
the  house  of  prayer. 

"  The  eyes  of  the  community  have  since  regarded 
some  of  these  with  peculiar  solicitude,  looking  for  fur 
ther  indications  of  a  continued  and  growing  concern ; 
but  the  proverb  is  verified :  'The  dog  is  returned  to  his 
vomit  again,  and  the  sow  that  was  washed  to  her  wal 
lowing/  Alas  for  Ephraim  !  his  goodness  was  transient 
as  the  morning  cloud  and  early  dew. 

"The  day  of  their  calamity  did  not  overtake  the  poor 
Southern  Methodists  unprepared.  They  were  found 
with  their  lamps  trimmed  and  oil  in  their  vessels.  There 
was  a  good  supply  of  fuel,  also,  properly  prepared; 
carpets,  Sunday  school  library,  etc.  The  house  itself  they 
found  swept  and  garnished.  The  ladies,  only  a  day  or 
two  before,  had  given  it  a  thorough  cleansing.  Poor 
souls  I  their  labor  was  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord.  *  *  *  * 

tf  Southern  Methodism  in  this  city,  though  cast  down, 
has  not  been  destroyed.  Sister  churches  felt  and  mani 
fested  sympathy.  The  Presbyterians  kindly  offered 
the  use  of  their  church  on  the  following*  Sabbath,  and  a 
gentleman,  who  makes  no  pretensions  to  religion,  gen 
erously  tendered  the  use  of  a  hall,  which  at  present  they 
occupy.  The  varied  character  of  the  seats — chairs, 
boxes,  rough  planks,  old  sofas,  etc.,  might  excite  a  smile, 
but,  under  the  circumstances,  they  are  regarded  as  very 
comfortable.  The  attendance  on  the  services  of  the 
sanctuary  has  doubled  since  this  wholesale  excommuni 
cation.  The  same  is  true  of  the  Sabbath  School ;  and 
on  every  hand  there  are  manifestations  of  increasing 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  235 

interest.  The  Church  is  said  to  manifest  a  very  good 
state  of  feeling,  exhibiting  very  little  of  that  bitterness 
and  malice  which  such  injuries  are  apt  to  engender. 
They  forgive  and  commit  their  cause  to  the  Lord,  ex 
hibiting  much  of  that  'charity  that  suffereth  long  and 
is  kind/ 

"A  writ  prohibiting  the  interference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  with  the  property  and  rights  of  the 
Southern  Methodists  was  granted  by  proper  authority 
and  sustained  by  the  Circuit  Court  hist  week.  The 
former  occupants  patiently  wait  for  the  officers  of  the 
law  to  execute  their  trusts.  When  this  shall  be  done 
you  may  expect  to  hear  from  us  again. 

"  AN  HONEST  LOOKER  ON. 

"  Boonville,  March  10,  1866." 

The  Circuit  Court  granted  a  writ  of  prohibition,  and 
the  defendant,  J.  N.  Pierce,  appealed  to  the  Supreme 
Court,  and  made  a  motion  by  his  attorney  that  all  pro 
ceedings  be  stayed  till  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  could  be  had,  which  would  leave  him  in  possession 
of  the  Church  until  the  slow  ploddings  of  law  could  be 
made.  The  court  would  not  grant  his  motion,  but 
ordered  a  writ  of  restitution  to  issue  instanter,  to  which 
defendant  excepted. 

The  legal  history  of  the  case  can  better  be  seen  in  the 
"Missouri  reports/'  vol.  38,  p.  296,  a  part  of  which  may 
well  be  transferred  to  these  pages. 

"  This  case  was  commenced  in  the  Cooper  Circuit 
Court  by  filing  a  petition  praying  for  a  writ  of  prohibi 
tion  to  issue  against  the  County  Court  and  John  IN". 
Pierce,  stating  that  the  plaintiffs  were  trustees  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  situate  in  the  city 


236  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

of  Boonville,  on  the  south  half  of  lot  238  on  the  plat  of 
said  city,  and  that  they,  as  such  trustees,  were  in  the 
actual  and  rightful  possession  of  said  Church  property, 
and  that  they  and  the  persons  under  whom  they  claim 
have  had  the  actual  and  adverse  possession  of  said 
church  for  more  than  twenty  years,  claiming  the  same 
as  the  property  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South ;  and  that  the  defendant,  John  IS".  Pierce,  applied 
by  petition  to  the  County  Court  of  Cooper  county  at 
the  February  term,  1866,  and  in  said  petition  asked  the 
said  court  to  put  him,  the  said  Pierce,  in  possession  of 
said  church ;  and  further  stating  in  said  petition  that 
eaid  County  Court,  or  a  majority  of  the  members  of  said 
court,  assumed  to  act  on  said  petition,  and  did  in  fact 
entertain  said  petition,  and  made  an  order  and  caused 
the  same  to  be  entered  upon  its  records,  declaring  in 
said  order  who  are  the  owners  and  entitled  to  the  pos 
session  of  said  church.  The  petition  further  stated  that 
said  court,  in  assuming  to  act  on  said  petition,  exceeded 
its  powers;  that  said  court  had  no  jurisdiction  over  the 
subject  matter  in  said  petition,  and  praying  a  writ  of 
prohibition  to  the  said  County  Court  and  John  N.  Pierce 
to  prohibit  them  from  proceeding  to  enforce  said  order, 
&c. 

"Upon  this  petition  a  writ  of  prohibition  issued,  re 
turnable  to  the  Circuit  Court  on  the  19th  day  of  Febru 
ary,  1866,  and  upon  the  return  thereof  the  defendants 
moved  to  quash  the  Writ  of  prohibition,  which  motion 
was  overruled,  and  judgment  was  entered  by  the  court 
making  the  writ  of  prohibition  absolute,  and  ordering  a 
return  of  said  Church  property  to  the  plaintiffs.  The 
court  adjourned  till  the  fourth  Monday  of  May,  1866. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  237 

Upon  the  fourth  Monday  of  May,  at  a  session  of  the 
Circuit  Court;  the  defendants,  by  their  attorney,  filed 
and  argued  a  motion  to  vacate  and  set  aside  the  judg 
ment.  The  motion  was  overruled,  to  which  defendant 
excepted. 

"The  defendant,  John  K  Pierce,  at  the  session  of 
said  court  made  and  filed  an  affidavit  and  recognizance 
for  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court,  which  was  approved 
by  said  Circuit  Court  and  an  appeal  allowed.  The  de 
fendant,  Pierce,  then  made  a  motion  that  all  proceedings 
be  stayed  till  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  be  had, 
which  was  refused  by  the  court,  and  a  writ  of  restitu 
tion  was  thereupon  ordered  to  issue  instanter,  to  which 
the  defendant  excepted.''' 

A  portion  of  the  opinion  of  the  court  throws  addi 
tional  light  on  the  subject,  and  will  be  sufficient  to  place 
all  the  material  facts  in  the  case  before  the  reader.  For 
the  questions  of  law  involving  the  powers  and  jurisdic 
tion  of  the  courts  respectively  the  reader  is  referred  to 
the  case  as  reported  in  "Missouri  Beports,"  vol.  38,  pp. 
296-302.— Howard  et  al  vs.  Pierce. 

"Holmes,  Judge,  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court. 
This  was  a  writ  of  prohibition  against  the  defendant, 
Pierce,  and  the  Justices  of  the  County  Court  of  Cooper 
county,  upon  a  suggestion,  supported  by  affidavit,  but 
without  an  exemplification  of  the  record  of  the  proceed 
ings  being  filed  therewith.  The  suggestion,  or  petition, 
contains  but  a  very  vague  and  imperfect  statement  of 
the  facts,  but  we  arc  enabled  to  gather  from  it  that  the 
defendant,  Pierce,  had  filed  a  petition  in  the  County 
Court  praying  to  have  the  plaintiffs  ejected  from  the 


238  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

possession  of  a  lot  of  ground  and  a  church  building 
situated  thereon,  in  the  city  of  Boonville. 

"  The  plaintiffs  do  not  appear  to  have  been  made 
parties  to  the  proceeding,  whatever  it  may  have  been, 
and  had  no  notice  thereof;  but  it  appears  that  the 
County  Court  proceeded  to  entertain  jurisdiction  of  the 
matter,  and  made  certain  orders,  the  effect  of  which 
would  be  to  put  the  petitioner  in  possession  of  the 
premises  in  question,  ejecting  the  plaintiffs.  This  was 
certainly  a  very  summary  process  of  ejectment.  We 
can  only  say  that  it  is  clear  for  one  thing — that  the 
County  Court  had  not  jurisdiction  to  entertain  such 
proceeding. 

"It  was  said  in  the  argument  that  the  title  to  the 
property  was  vested  in  the  county,  and  that  the  defend 
ant's  application  was  only  to  have  the  liberty  of  taking 
possession  of  the  church;  but  nothing  of  all  this  appears 
on  this  record.  So  far  as  we  can  see  by  the  record  be 
fore  us,  the  prohibition  was  properly  granted. 

"It  further  appears  that,  in  the  judgment  which  was 
entered,  an  additional  order  was  made,  upon  facts  made 
to  appear  to  the  court,  directing  the  clerk  to  issue  a  writ 
of  restitution  to  restore  to  the  plaintiffs  the  possession 
of  the  premises  which  (we  may  infer)  had  been  taken 
from  them  by  virtue  of  the  orders  which  had  been  made 
by  the  County  Court  in  disobedience  to  the  prohibition. 
We  find  no  warrant  in  any  authority  for  such  a  proceed 
ing.  The  proper  remedy  for  a  contempt  would  seem 
to  be  an  attachment,  to  be  enforced  by  fine  and  im 
prisonment.  The  sheriff's  execution  shows  that  he  had 
made  restitution  by  putting  the  plaintiffs  in  possession 
of  the  church  from  which  they  had  been  thus  unlawfully 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  239 

ejected.  The  defendant,  Pierce,  moved  to  set  aside  the 
judgment,  for  the  reason,  among  others,  that  this  order 
of  restitution  was  irregular,  and  his  motion  was  over 
ruled.  The  Justices  of  the  County  Court  appear  to  have 
acquiesced  in  the  action  of  the  court  below,  and  refused 
to  join  with  the  defendant,  Pierce,  in  this  appeal.  *  * 
"We  see  no  better  way  than  to  affirm  the  judgment, 
and  it  is  accordingly  affirmed. 

"  Judge  Wagner  concurs;  Judge  Lovelace  absent." 
The  following  points  should  be  noted  in  making  up 
the  public  verdict  upon  the  action  of  Mr.  Pierce  and  the 
Church  which  he  represents. 

1.  Mr.  Pierce   obtained    from  the  County  Court  an 
order  putting  him  in  possession  of  the  church  upon  a 
false  plea — that  the  property  belonged  to  the  county — 
without  notifying  the  trustees  or  any  other  parties,  and 
without  making  them  parties  to  the  proceeding. 

2.  Mr.  Pierce  acted  as  his  own  sheriff,  and  executed 
the  unlawful  order  of  the  court  in  an  unlawful  manner, 
by  forcing  an  entrance  to  the   church,    removing  the 
lock,   substituting  another,   and,  with  a  self-organized 
posse,   guarded  the  church  all  night  with  arms  in  his 
hands  and  the  order  of  the  County  Court  in  his  pocket. 

3.  He  tried  to  quash  the  writ  of  prohibition  issued  by 
the  Circuit  Court,   failing  in  which  he  tried  to  stay  its 
execution  by  his  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  until  that 
decision    could    be    had — to    keep    possession    of   the 
properly  and  use  it  in  the  interest  of  his  Church. 

4.  The   M.  E.  Church,  Xorth,  of  which  Mr.   Pierce 
was  a  minister  in  good    standing,    indorsed   the  pro 
ceedings  as   a  part  of  her  policy — announced   by  her 


240  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

Conference — to  get  possession  of  the  property  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South. 

5.  The  unlawful  means  used  in  this  case  was  fully 
sanctioned,  if  not  instigated,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  llaggerty, 
presiding  elder  of  the   district,   who  was  present  and 
aided  in  nearly  all  the  proceedings  in  the  church  and  in 
the  courts. 

6.  The  act  has  never  been  disavowed,  disowned,  dis 
claimed  or  condemned  by  any  Bishop,  Quarterly,  Annual 
or  General   Conference  of  that  Church;  nor  was  Mr. 
Pierce's  character  ever  arrested  in  an  Annual  Confer 
ence  for  his  conduct  in  this  Boonville  church  affair. 

The  same  may  be  affirmed  of  each  and  every  instance 
of  church  seizure  and  appropriation  in  Missouri. 

If  they  can  escape  the  judgment  of  Conferences  and 
Courts  while  party  blood  is  still  bounding  and  burning, 
they  may  not  escape  the  just  verdict  of  posterity  after 
the  passions  have  cooled  down,  and  when  the  names 
and  character  of  men  will  be  judged  by  the  history  they 
have  made  and  the  shadows  they  have  thrown  forward 
upon  the  world. 

CHURCH  IN  SPRINGFIELD. 

Just  before  the  war  the  members  and  friends  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  erected  in  the  town  of  Springfield, 
Green  county,  Mo,,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  elegant 
churches  in  Missouri  outside  of  St.  Louis.  It  was  the 
religious  centre  and  pride  of  the  southwest,  That  part 
of  the  State  was  fearfully  desolated  by  the  war,  and 
Springfield  was  an  important  base  of  army  operations. 
It  was  a  depot  of  supplies,  and  a  rallying  centre  for  all 
the  large  armies,  the  scouting  parties  and  marauding 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  241 

bands  that  operated  against  the  rebels  of  the  South  and 
the  citizens  of  that  portion  of  the  State.  While  the 
torch  was  applied  to  nearly  every  church  in  the  whole 
of  southwest  Missouri  it  is  a  little  singular  that  this  one 
should  be  spared.  But  so  it  was. 

At  what  time  it  passed  into  the  actual  possession  and 
use  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  precisely 
how  long  it  remained  in  their  possession,  the  subjoined 
report  made  to  the  St.  Louis  Conference  sets  forth. 
Many  things  are  assumed  to  be  of  such  general  knowl 
edge  that  no  particular  and  definite  information  is 
necessary.  The  authentic  information  upon  the  sub 
ject  is  a  follows : 

1.  A  copy  of  a  deed  of  conveyance  of  a  lot  or  parcel 
of  ground   in  the   city  of  Springfield,  made  by  Daniel 
Polk  and  E.  A.  Polk,  his  wife,  to  Daniel  D.  Berry,  Jas. 
E.  Danforth,  Eobt.  J.  McElhany,  Warren  H.  Graves  and 
John  S.  Waddill,  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  said  Church,  to  erect  thereon 
a  house  of  worship,  &c.     Consideration,  $350.     Dated 
October  11,  1856. 

2.  A  statement  of  the  debt  incurred  in  the   erection 
of  said  house  of  worship,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
$4,695. 

3.  A  copy  of  deed  of  conveyance  of  October  22, 1866, 
made  by  "Eobt.  J.  McElheny,  Warren  H.  Graves  and 
John  S.  Waddill,  as  trustees  of  the  county  of  Green  and 
State  of  Missouri/'  to  Eichard  Gott,  John  Demitt,  J.  D. 
Perkins,  James  Baker  and  E.  S.  Gott,  trustees,  in  trust 
for   the  use    and    benefit  of  the   Methodist    Episcopal 
Church,  &c.     Consideration,  $4,700.     One  thousand  of 

16 


242  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

which  was  paid  to  them  in  cash,  and  the  balance  to  go 
to  the  creditors  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

Suit  was  brought  by  the  Church,  South,  to  recover 
the  property  upon  the  ground  that  the  remaining  mem 
bers  of  the  original  Board  of  Trustees  had  no  legal  right 
to  sell  and  convey  the  property  for  their  own  benefit. 

The  case,  like  nearly  all  others,  was  compromised,  and 
both  the  church  and  parsonage  were  given  up  and 
turned  over  to  the  trustees  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 

The  history  of  the  case,  as  gathered  and  reported  by 
the  committee  appointed  by  the  St.  Louis  Annual  Con 
ference,  M.  E.  Church,  South,  will  be  found  sufficiently 
full  in  the  following  statement  of  facts  and  report  made 
by  the  committee  to  the  Conference  in  1868.  The  reader 
will  appreciate  the  irony  scattered  here  and  there 
through  the  report  if  he  can  not  excuse  it.  The  ma 
terial  facts  will  be  found  without  the  publication  of  the 
correspondence  to  which  the  report  refers.  It  should 
not  be  overlooked  that  the  Northern  Methodists  took 
possession  of  the  church  at  the  same  time  they  seized 
the  parsonage,  viz.,  in  1863. 

"To  the  Bishop  and  Members  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference : 
"  The  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of 
your  church  property  at  Springfield,  Mo.,  instructed  to 
'  take  such  measures  as  they  may  deem  proper  to  recover 
the  property/  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following 

"  KEPORT. 

"  One  member  of  your  committee,  E.  P.-  Faulkner, 
residing  at  Arlington,  Mo.,  and  two  members  in  St. 
Louis,  and  the  property  in  question  and  parties  holding 
it  being  at  Springfield,  Mo.,  we  have  had  to  labor  at 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  243 

considerable  disadvantage  and  loss  of  time  owing  to 
these  distances. 

"Yet  we  Lave  endeavored  to  give  the  matter  all  the 
attention  so  important  a  trust  deserved;  and  for  the 
sake  of  common  justice  and  our  sacred  Christianity  we 
regret  to  state  that  our  house  of  worship  at  Springfield 
is  not  yet  in  our  possession. 

"  But  we  are  happy  to  state  that  we  have  reason  to 
believe  we  shall  soon  regain  that  which  is  justly  our  own. 

"  A  part  of  your  action  on  this  subject  at  your  last 
session  was  'that the  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Springfield 
District  should  see  that  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  our 
property  at  Springfield  be  immediately  filled  according 
to  Discipline.' 

"We  take  pleasure  in  stating  that  your  instructions 
in  this  matter  have  been  complied  with  by  Rev.  Gr.  M. 
Wmton,  P.  E.;  and  the  following  named  gentlemen  ap 
pointed  trustees:  Lawson  Fulbright,  Elisha*Headlee, 
Thomas  W.  Cunningham,  Adam  C.  Mitchell  and  William 
Montgomery. 

"Parsonage  Property. — In  the  examination  of  this 
question  we  found  that  the  house  was  taken  possession 
of  about  the  middle  of  the  year  1863  by  the  authorities 
of  the  M.  E.  Church,  under  an  idea  that  it  would  be 
destroyed  as  an  enemy  of  the  National  Government  if  not 
protected  by  them;  and  subsequently  held  and  used  by 
them  under  the  discovery  that  it  was  deeded  to  the  M. 
E.  Church — a  Church  without  representative  or  exist 
ence  in  that  part  of  Missouri  at  the  date  of  said  deed. 

"  The  facts  in  regard  to  the  title  to  this  properly  are 
best  explained  by  reference  to  a  letter  herewith  submit- 


244  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ted,  marked  A,  from  Eev.  B.  E.  Johnson,  formerly  a 
member  of  your  Conference,  now  of  California, 

"  Thus  it  appears  that  the  title  of  the  M.  E.  Church 
to  this  property  is  from  a  clerical  mistake  and  a  strong 
desire  to  protect  our  interests  from  destruction. 

"We  would  further  state  on  this  point  that  our  ex 
aminations  satisfy  us  that  the  rental  for  the  use  of  this 
property  should  be  at  least  $25  per  month  for  the  whole 
time — four  and  one  half  years — it  has  been  saved  from 
destruction  by  our  friends  (?).  As  will  be  seen  in  a  sub 
sequent  part  of  this  report,  a  claim,  equal  to  the  sum  of 
the  rental,  is  made  by  those  who  have  possessed  and 
protected  this  property  for  <  needed  repairs/  We  will 
recur  to  this  subject  again  in  its  place. 

"  House  of  Worship. — We  regret  exceedingly  to  have 
to  report  a  sad  disappointment  to  our  friends,  the  occu 
pants,  who  were  deprived  of  the  use  of  this  house,  after 
great  preparations  had  been  made  for  a  fair,  festival  and 
feast  of  fat  things,  by  a  thunder  storm,  whose  lightning 
struck  the  church  and  well  nigh  settled  the  controversy 
in  regard  to  it. 

"As  soon  as  practicable  your  committee  convened  at 
the  St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  St.  Louis,  and  among  other 
things  determined  that  it  was  necessary  for  one  or  more 
of  the  committee  to  visit  Springfield. 

"  Shortly  thereafter  E.  P.  Faulkner  went  to  Spring* 
field,  and  on  an  inquiry  into  the  matter,  elicited  from 
the  authorities  of  the  M.  E.  Church  a  proposition  for 
settlement,  which  will  be  presented  presently. 

"  Just  previous  to  this  Wm.  C.  Jamison,  a  member  of 
your  committee,  received  the  following  letter  from 
Judge  Baker,  of  Springfield  (marked  B). 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  245 

"  We  here  present  the  propositions  referred  to  above 
(marked  C),  with  a  letter  from  E.  P.  Faulkner  to  the 
committee  (marked  (one'). 

"  On  receiving  this  communication  your  committee 
convened  at  Arlington  (Wm.  C.  Jamison  absent,  being 
at  that  time  in  "Wisconsin),  and  on  due  consideration  of 
the  propositions,  made  to  them  the  following  answer 
herewith  submitted  (marked  D). 

"  This,  our  answer  to  the  committee  on  the  part  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  we  enclosed  to  the  Hon.  Jno.  S.  Phelps, 
of  Springfield,  with  the  following  letter  of  instructions 
(marked  E). 

"  Immediately  after  closing  its  session  at  Arlington 
your  committee  received  the  following  letter  from  Rev. 
J.  J.  Bently,  P.  E.  of  Springfield  District  M.  E.  Church, 
North,  relating  to  the  parsonage  (marked  E). 

"  This  communication  was  immediately  sent  to  Hon. 
Jno.  S.  Phelps,  our  counsel. 

"Thus  we  have  given  you  all  that  we  have  been  able 
to  do  in  this  matter,  simply  adding  our  opinion  that 
we  will  ultimately  recover  our  property. 

"  The  condition  of  the  church  at  Springfield,  as  will 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  letter  of  H.  P.  Faulkner, 
who  examined  it,  requires  immediate  attention. 

"The  damage  done  to  the  house  on  the  occasion  of 
the  defeat  of  the  religious  fair  is  thus  reported  on  by  Jfc. 
P.  Faulkner: 

"'Though  seriously  damaged,  yet  it  can  be  repaired 
for  much  less  than  I  had  any  idea  of  until  I  visited  it. 
I  had  a  builder  go  and  examine  and  make  a  rough  esti 
mate  of  the  cost  to  repair  the  damage,  including  every 
thing  but  scats,  pulpit,  &c.,  who  reported  to  me  that, 


246  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

if  a  thousand  dollars  would  not  do  it,  twelve  hundred 
would/ 

"  From  a  careful  survey  of  all  the  interests  of  our 
Church  in  Springfield,  we  recommend  to  the  Conference 
that  measures  be  immediately  taken  to  secure  for  that 
station  a  man  of  experience,  who  shall  take  the  charge 
of  the  society  and  the  oversight  of  the  repairs  of  the 
church.  And  to  this  end  we  submit  the  following  reso- 
tions  : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  Bishop  be  requested  to  station 
one  of  the  most  efficient  pulpit  and  business  men  at 
Springfield. 

"  2.  That  the  Missionary  Society  be  requested  to  make 
as  liberal  appropriations  as  they  are  able  for  the  sup 
port  of  the  preacher  stationed  at  Springfield. 

"3.  That  with  the  approval  of  our  counsel  at  Spring 
field  and  the  recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Trustees, 
the  preacher  in  charge  be  authorized  and  requested  to 
visit  such  places  as  he  may  see  proper  to  raise  means  to 
pay  debts  and  repairs  on  the  Church. 

"4.  That  the  whole  matter  pertaining  to  the  church 
and  parsonage  at  Springfield  be  referred  to  the  Presid 
ing  Elder  of  Springfield  District,  the  Preacher  in  Charge 
of  the  Station  and  the  trustees  of  the  church. 
"Kespectfully  submitted, 

"  W.  M.  PROTTSMAN, 
"  W.  C.JAMISON." 

CHURCH  IN  POTOSI. 

The  worthy  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Potosi  District, 
St.  Louis  Conference  M.  E.  Church,  South,  makes  the 
following  statement  of  the  attempt  to  seize  and  hold  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  247 

church  in  Potosi.  It  furnishes  at  least  an  illustration 
of  the  fertility  of  resources  possessed  by  these  church 
seizers,  to  use  a  soft  term,  and  the  facility  with  which 
they  could  take  advantage  of  circumstances. 

"  MISSISSIPPI  COUNTY,  Feb.  6, 1867. 

"BRO.  M/ ANALLY:  I  send  you,  for  the  benefit  of  your 
correspondent — a  member  of  the  Missouri  Conference — 
some  statements  of  an  attempt  of  '  our  brethren,  the 
enemy/  to  take,  hold  and  possess  our  church  in  Potosi. 

"Some  time  during'  the  year  1805  a  Mr.  or  Major 
Miller  came  to  Potosi  and  reported  himself  a  minister 
of  the  <  Old  Wesleyan  Methodist  Church  j '  that  he  was 
neither  North  nor  South,  but  belonged  to  the  good  old 
Mother  Church. 

"  As  our  people  had  no  pastor,  they  permitted  him  to 
preach  in  our  church,  and  attended  his  ministry.  He 
made  an  earnest  effort  to  proselyte  our  members,  but 
failed.  Rumor  said  he  intended  to  take  possession  of 
our  church,  but  he  denied  it. 

" Early  in  1866  Mr.  Sorin,  his  Presiding  Elder,  an 
nounced  publicly  from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath  that 
the  house  belonged  to  them,  and  henceforth  they  in 
tended  to  hold  and  possess  the  same. 

"That  week  Bro.  Wallace,  one  of  the  trustees  of  the 
church,  who  had  been  a  member  for  two  score  years, 
locked  the  door,  took  possession  of  the  key  and  notified 
Mr.  Miller  that  he  could  not  preach  there  any  more. 

"Mr.  Miller  then  notified  Bro.  Wallace  that  he  would 
bring  suit  for  the  church.  Bro.  Wallace  assured  him 
that  when  the  hi\v  gave  him  the  house  he  would  give 
him  the  key. 

"In  the  meantime  the  Radicals  of  the  town  rented  a 


248  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

hall  for  Mr.  Miller,  in  which  they  put  an  organ  to  help 
him  make  music. 

"  I  held  a  quarterly  meeting  in  Potosi  in  January,  1867, 
and  while  there  I  learned  that  the  Rev.  Major  had  sold 
his  friends'  organ,  pocketed  the  money  and  gone  on  a 
long  journey  toward  the  north  pole.  So  Madam  Humor 
reports. 

"  Our  people  are  in  quiet  possession  of  our  church 
house,  have  an  excellent  Sabbath  school,  an  organ  to 
help  the  children  sing,  a  very  gratifying  increase  in  the 
membership  of  the  Church,  and  no  fears  of  being  dis 
turbed  by  Messrs.  Sorin,  Miller  and  company,  unless 
they  do  as  their  confederates  did  on  Castor — burn  the 
church. 

"  Several  of  our  church  houses  at  other  points  have 
been  quietly  occupied  by  them,  but  I  believe  they  have 
run  their  race  and  are  not  likely  to  trouble  us  much 
more.  "W.  S.  WOODARD." 

This  case,  as  it  exists  in  the  above  statement,  ought  to 
be  sufficient  for  all  the  purposes  of  history. 

In  Plattsburg,  Clinton  county,  they  purchased  an  old 
debt  and  in  that  way  obtained  a  kind  of  title  to  half  the 
church.  They  also  purchased  an  old  debt  and  got  a 
title  to  the  Plattsburg  High  School  property,  and  retain 
it  to  this  day. 

The  property  of  the  Southern  Methodists  in  nearly 
every  part  of  the  State  suffered  one  way  or  another, 
and  many  houses  of  worship  w^ere  seized  and  used  by 
the  Northern  Methodists  that  were  riot  reported  in  the 
public  prints,  adjudicated  in  the  civil  courts  or  published 
in  their  Conference  statistics. 

Amongst  the  latter  may  be  mentioned  the  churches 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  249 

at  Plattsburg,  Macon  Ciiy,  Fillmore,  and  a  church  at 
Glasgow,  built  and  owned  by  the  Southern  Methodists 
for  the  use  of  the  colored  people.  They  purchased  the 
other  half  of  the  Plattsburg  church,  gave  up  the  Fillmore 
church  after  using  it  about  five  years,  and  never  gave 
up  the  churches  at  Macon  City  and  Glasgow. 

In  the  presence  of  these  facts  the  statement  so  often 
made  from  the  pulpit  and  through  the  press,  that  the 
ministers  and  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church  never  at 
any  time  engaged  in  seizing  and  appropriating  to  their 
use  the  property  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  sounds  very 
strangely  in  the  ears  of  candid,  honest  people.  They 
evidently  did  not  foresee  the  necessity  for  such  a  denial, 
and  consequently  were  not  very  careful  to  cover  up 
their  tracks.  They  so  far  gloried  in  the  history  they 
were  making  as  to  report  the  property  they  had  seized 
and  appropriated  in  their  Church  statistics,  which  they 
published  to  the  world. 

The  following  list  of  property  is  taken  from  the  pub 
lished  Statistics  of  the  Missouri  and  Arkansas  Confer 
ence  M.  E.  Church  for  1865-6,  and  which  disappeared 
as  fast  as  the  suits  were  decided  or  the  cases  com 
promised  : 

Independence  church $17,000 

Independence  parsonage 3,000 

Lagrange  church 12,000 

Springfield  church 12,000 

Springfield  parsonage  (not  reported) 3,000 

Boonville  church....'. 10,000 

Plattsburo;  church 5,000 

Fillmore  church 500 

Louisiana  church  , 5,000 

Glasgow  colored  church 3,000 

Macon  church 2,500 

Total 873,000 


250  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

To  this  may  be  added  the  churches  seized  and  held  by 
them  for  a  short  time  only,  and  given  up  before  they 
could  be  reported  to  the  Conference,  the  property  ob 
tained  for  "  less  than  half  its  value,"  by  buying  up  old 
debts  and  forcing  sales,  where  that  course  was  necessary, 
and  the  furniture  and  fixtures  destroyed  and  damaged 
in  the  use  and  abuse  of  the  property  held  by  them  for 
so  long,  and  which  was  assessed  upon  the  lawful  owners 
in  the  claims  of  restored  decency  and  comfort,  and  the 
grand  total  would  reach  over  $100,000,  to  say  nothing 
of  rentals,  costs  of  suits,  the  damage  of  deprivation,  etc. 

In  the  face  of  all  these  facts,  it  must  require  no  ordi 
nary  degree  of  moral  courage  for  men  in  high  position 
to  affirm  that  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  M.  E. 
Church  never  stole,  seized,  pressed,  appropriated  or 
possessed  themselves  of  property  that  did  not  belong  to 
them.  Only  the  moral  abrasion  of  civil  war  could  pro 
duce  the  requisite  "hard  cheek." 

The  civil  war  has  passed  away.  Missouri  is  no  longer 
ruled  by  shoulder  straps  and  bayonets — the  civil  law 
is  supreme — and  even  by  judges  who  "  neither  fear  C4od 
nor  regard  man,"  except  of  their  own  party,  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  has  been  reinstated  and  secured  in  her 
property  rights. 

Those  who  figured  conspicuously  in  this  church-seizing 
business  often  and  loudly  proclaimed  that  they  were 
"making  history."  True,  they  made  history,  and  now 
they  should  not  complain  if  they  stand  before  tho  world 
in  the  light  of  the  history  they  have  made. 

If  they  could  afford  to  make  the  history  and  then 
boast  of  it,  we  can  certainly  afford  to  record  it,  especially 
when  it  is  a  record  of  tho  martyrdom  of  those  sacred 
Christian  principles  for  which  a  discriminating,  righte 
ous  charity  has  no  mantle. 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  251 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CHURCH  SEIZURES  CONTINUED  AND  MADE  GENERAL. 

War  Claims  of  Northern  Methodists  Settled  by  Ecclesiastical  Black- 
Mail — Military  Mitres  and  Episcopal  Shoulder-Straps — The  Differ 
ence — The  "  Stanton-Ames  Order  " — "  The  Great  Episcopal  Raid  " 
— "  Special  Order,  No.  15,"  from  Major  General  Banks — Official 
Board  of  Carondelet  Street  Church,  New  Orleans,  and  Bishop 
Ames — Episcopal  Power  then  and  Ecclesiastical  Criticism  now — 
Popular  Verdict — Abandoned  (?)  and  Embarrassed  Churches  and 
Ecclesiastical  ''Bummers" — Church  Extension  in  the  South — 
Letters  and  Extracts — Bishop  Clark  and  "  Church  Extension  Meet 
ings" — Does  the  End  Justify  the  Means,  or  Success  Satisfy  the 
Demands  of  Modern  Ethics? — Property  Acquired  by  the  INI.  E. 
Church  in  the  South  in  a  few  Years— Four  Hundred  and  Eight 
Churches.  Eighteen  Parsonages  and  Eight  Literary  Institutions  in 
two  Years,  worth  $446,659  00,  all  in  Five  Conferences — Opinions 
of  their  Leading  Men  and  Journals — Hon.  John  Hogan,  of  St. 
Louis.  Scuttles  the  Episcopal  Ram — Order  from  the  War  Depart 
ment,  with  President  Lincoln's  Endorsement — Possible  Deception 
• — Rev.  Dr.  Keener,  of  New  Orleans,  Sues  for  the  Churches  of 
Louisiana  four  Months — McKendree  Church,  Nashville,  Vacated, 
''by  Order  from  Bishop  Simpson"  —  Memorial  of  the  Holston 
Conference  M.  E.  Church.  South,  to  the  Chicago  General  Confer 
ence,  and  How  it  was  Treated — Action  of  Chicago  General  Con 
ference — u  Stanton-Ames  Order"  Duplicated  for  the  Baptists — 
Conclusion — Sensible  Warning  from  the  St.  Louis  Anzeiger. 

Both  the  purpose  and  plan  for  the  seizure  and  appro 
priation  of  the  property  of  the  M.  E.  Church,.  South, 
contemplated  a  much  wider  range  of  territoiy  than  tho 
State  of  Missouri.  The  M.  E.  Church,  North,  had  done 
too  much  to  put  down  rebellion ;  had  entered  too 
heartily  into  the  struggle,  sent  too  many  men  to  the 
front,  put  too  many  orators  on  the  stump,  offered  too 
many  prayers  from  her  pulpits  and  altars  for  the  suc 
cess  of  the  Union  armies  and  tho  destruction  of  all 
rebels,  and  had  supplied  too  liberally  the  moral  and 


252  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

material  sinews  of  war,  to  lose  a  golden  opportunity. 
The  M.  E.  Church,  South,  had  many  fine  churches,  with 
costly  furniture  and  garniture,  in  the  chief  cities  of  the 
South;  and  were  they  not  rebels — all  rebels?  What 
rights  have  rebels  that  loyal  men  are  bound  to  respect? 
"Were  not  Southern  Methodists  traitors  above  all  others? 
The  Federal  Government,  as  represented  in  Generals 
Grant,  Sherman,  Butler  and  Banks,  could  confiscate, 
seize  and  appropriate  the  property  of  chief  rebels  in  the 
South,  and  especially  that  which  had  been,  or  could  be, 
used  in  the  interest  of  treason  or  rebellion  ;  and  why 
could  not  the  Federal  Government,  as  represented  in 
Bishops  Simpson,  Ames,  Clark,  Kingsley  and  the  great 
body  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  confiscate,  seize  and  appro 
priate  the  church  property  that  had  been,  or  could 
be,  used  in  the  interest  of  treason  and  rebellion  ? 
Eebel  chaplains  might  preach  in  them,  rebel  soldiers 
might  be  quartered  in  them,  rebel  hospitals  might  be 
made  of  them,  and  in  them  the  great  rebellion  might 
receive  moral  support.  "What  reward  for  loyalty  had 
been  specially  set  apart  for  the  M.  E.  Church  ?  What 
the  price  of  her  prayers,  her  sermons,  her  money,  her 
men  ?  Another,  and  that  the  smallest  Protestant  Church 
in  the  land,  had  the  best  army  and  navy  chaplains — 
had  the  lion's  share  of  appointments.  Did  not  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  inaugurate  rebellion  in  1844  ?  And 
when  the  force  of  the  Southern  Church  is  broken  by  the 
military  arm — when  her  great  centres  are  broken  up 
and  her  property  confiscated  or  destroyed,  and  loyal 
men  preach  a  loyal  gospel  from  her  pulpits,  and  teach 
loyalty  in  her  halls  and  institutions  of  learning,  then 
may  it  be  hoped  that  the  moral  and  political  heresy  will 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  253 

be  exterminated  with  the  heretics.  Make  the  M.  E. 
Church  a  part  of  the  military  arm  of  the  Government; 
invest  the  Bishops  with  ecclesiastico-military  authority; 
supply  them  with  transportation,  supplies  and  military 
escorts;  make  Department  Commanders  subject  unto 
them,  and  if  the  great  rebellion  is  not  put  down,  the 
great  national  Church  will  be  put  up,  and  the  property 
of  traitors  will  be  converted  to  loyal  uses.  The 
centres  of  population  and  power  in  the  South  will  be 
put  under  loyal  training  and  discipline,  and  a  moral 
result  will  be  reached  which  " military  necessity"  de 
mands.  All  moral  questions  down  in  the  presence  of 
a  war  measure  so  manifestly  right  and  proper.  Military 
necessity  has  no  conscience  in  the  presence  of  a  gigantic 
rebellion.  What  religious  difference  between  a  military 
and  an  ecclesiastical  raid  upon  the  property  of  rebels  ? 
Will  the  Government  and  the  Church  ever  quarrel  over 
the  spoils  of  conquest,  whether  gained  by  an  Episcopal 
General  or  a  Military  Bishop  ?  Episcopal  shoulder- 
straps  and  military  mitres  may  well  lose  their  distinc 
tion  in  a  common  cause  against  a  common  enemy. 

The  appropriateness  and  force  of  these  reflections  will 
appear  in  the  following  well  authenticated  facts. 

What  has  been  called,  by  way  of  distinction,  the 
"  Great  Episcopal  Raid/'  had  its  announcement  and 
authority  in  the  following  order,  issued  from  the  War 
Department  of  the  Federal  Government,  and  known  as 
the 


254  MARTYRDOM  IN  MISSOURI. 

«  STANTON-AMES  ORDER.  " 


DEPARTMENT,  ) 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Nov.  30,  1863.  j 

{f  To  the  Generals  Commanding  the  Military  Departments 
of  Mississippi,  the  Gulf,  the  South,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Missouri,  etc.,  etc.  : 

"  You  are  hereby  directed  to  place  at  the  disposal  of 
Key.  Bishop  Ames  all  houses  of  worship  belonging  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  in  which  a  loyal 
minister  who  has  been  appointed  by  a  loyal  Bishop  of 
said  Church  does  not  officiate.  It  is  a  matter  of  great 
importance  to  the  Government,  in  its  efforts  to  restore 
tranquillity  to  the  community  and  peace  to  the  nation, 
that  Christian  ministers  should,  by  precept  and  example, 
support  and  foster  the  loyal  sentiments  of  the  people." 
"  (Signed)  E.  M.  STANTON,  Sec'y  of  War. 

Thus  armed,  Bishop  Ames  started  on  his  Episcopal 
raid  upon  the  Southern  Methodist  Churches,  taking  with 
him  and  picking  up  along  the  route  down  the  Missis 
sippi  a  goodly  number  of  "loyal  ministers."  The  de 
tails  of  his  exploits  in  the  South,  seizing  and  appropri 
ating  to  the  uses  of  a  "loyal  religion"  the  churches  of 
others  would  not  be  appropriate  to  this  work,  but  will 
be  left  to  the  history  of  these  strange  times  in  their  ap 
propriate  localities. 

In  Memphis,  Tenn.,  Yicksburg  and  Jackson,  Miss., 
Baton  Rouge  and  New  Orleans,  La.,  the  Episcopal 
General  found  and  possessed  himself  of  fine  and  costly 
churches.  In  the  latter  city  he  called  the  Official  Board 
of  Carondelet  street  Church  together  —  the  largest,  finest 
and  wealthiest  Southern  Methodist  church  in  the  city— 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  255 

and  formally  demanded  the  surrender  of  that  and  the 
other  Southern  Methodist  churches  in  the  city  to  him. 

They  objected,  and  in  their  objection  set  forth  that 
"Bishop  Ames,  as  an  officer  of  another  Church,  had  no 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  them."  He  replied  that 
he  "claimed  no  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  over  them  any 
more  than  over  the  Catholic  or  Episcopal  Churches, 
but  that  he  came  with  an  order  from  the  United  States 
Secretary  of  War,  and  an  order  from  General  Banks, 
Department  Commander  at  New  Orleans,  and  by  that 
authority  he  demanded  the  surrender  of  the  churches." 

They  replied  that,  as  they  "held  the  property  in  trust 
for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  they 
could  not  voluntarily  give  up  that  trust.  If  they  did 
so  it  must  be  under  the  stress  of  a  compulsion  they  had 
no  power,  civil  or  military,  to  resist — the  Bishop  would 
have  to  compel  them." 

"Whereupon  the  Bishop  obtained  a  military  force,  and 
the  churches  were  taken,  just  as  Memphis,  Vicksburg, 
New  Orleans  and  Richmond  were  taken. 

An  extract  from  the  Special  Order  of  Major-General 
Banks,  then  commanding  the  "Department  of  the  Gulf," 
will  show  the  light  in  which  this  church-seizing  business 
was  viewed  by  the  military  authorities  as  a  moral  "war 
measure." 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEP'T  or  THE  GULF,  | 
NEW  ORLEANS,  Jan.  18,  1864.          j 

"Special  Order,  No.  15.] 

"V.  In  accordance  with  instructions  contained  in  a 
letter  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  under  date  of  Nov. 
30,  1863,  all  houses  of  worship  within  this  Department 
belonging  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 


256  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

in  which  a  loyal  minister,  who  has  been  appointed  by  a 
loyal  Bishop  of  said  Church,  does  not  now  officiate,  are 
hereby  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Rev.  Bishop  Ames. 

"  Commanding  officers  at  the  various  points  where 
such  houses  of  worship  may  be  located  are  directed  to 
extend  to  the  ministers  that  may  be  appointed  by  Bishop 
Ames,  to  conduct  divine  service  in  said  houses  of  wor 
ship,  all  the  aid,  countenance  and  support  practicable  in 
the  execution  of  their  mission. 

tf  Officers  of  the  quartermaster's  and  commissary  de 
partments  are  authorized  and  directed  to  furnish  Bishop 
Ames  and  his  clerk  with  transportation  and  subsistence, 
when  it  can  be  done  without  prejudice  to  the  service; 
and  all  officers  will  afford  them  courtesy,  assistance  and 
protection. 

"  By  command  of  Major- General  Banks. 

"GEORGE  B.  DRAKE, 

Ass't-Adj't-General." 

Under  this  "Special  Order  No.  15"  the  Bishop  was 
put  in  possession  of  many  churches,  his  ministers  pro 
tected,  and  this  general  superintendent  and  representa 
tive  of  the  M.  E.  Church  and  his  clerk  were  furnished 
transportation  and  subsistence  by  the  Government  as  a 
"war  measure." 

This  involves  more  than  that  Church  will  admit,  now 
that  military  protection  from  the  judgment  of  enlight 
ened  Christendom  will  not  avail,  and  now  that  ecclesias 
tical  criticism  is  as  unsparing  as  ecclesiastical  presump 
tion  was  then  reckless.  The  corrollary  that  the  M.  E. 
Church  made  distinct  and  aggressive  war  upon  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  and  hence  claimed  belligerent  rights 
to  capture  and  hold  the  property  of  the  enemy  in  perpe- 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  257 

tuity,  or  until  formally  given  up  under  treaty  stipula 
tions;  is  a  very  unwelcome  and  uncomfortable  position 
to  those  whose  religious  consciences  were  not  destroyed 
by  a  " military  necessity."  Strenuous  efforts  are  re 
quired  of  the  pulpit  and  press  to  break  the  force  of  the 
popular  verdict  of  the  people  upon  the  religious  and 
ecclesiastical  aspects  of  this  "Episcopal  Raid." 

The  authority  thus  given  to  Bishop  Ames  had  a  much 
wider  and  a  more  general  application  than  his  personal 
operations.  'This  gave  the  sanction  to  the  church  seiz 
ures  in  Missouri,  Kentucky,  Virginia,  East  Tennessee, 
and  all  through  the  South.  The  Bishops  of  the  Metho 
dist  Episcopal  Church  and  their  ministers  penetrated 
the  South  in  every  direction,  and  were  keen  on  the 
scent  of  abandoned  (?)  churches  and  other  property  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  They  went  to  the  large  cities 
and  railroad  centres ;  got  possession  of  churches  by 
military  order  or  otherwise — "  honestly,  if  they  could, 
but" — they  got  them,  and  then  went  out  in  every  direc 
tion  in  search  of  abandoned,  embarrassed  and  libelled 
property  which  they  could  seize  and  appropriate  to  the 
uses  of  a  "loyal  Methodism." 

While  this  plan  was  being  executed  in  the  South  the 
"Church  Extension  Society"  in  the  Northern  States 
and  the  " Missionary  Society"  were  furnishing  the 
material  aid  necessary  to  support  the  preachers,  buy  up 
old  church  debts,  force  sales  and  bid  in  the  property  for 
the  amount  of  the  debt,  and  thus  possess  themselves  of 
property  for  "less  than  half  its  value." 

To  show  how  the  business  was  carried  on,  see  the  fol 
lowing  extracts  from  a  letter  of  one  of  their  missionaries 

in  Alabama — Rev.  W.  P.  Miller — to  the  Corresponding 
17 


258  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Secretary  of  the  Church  Extension  Society  of  the  M.  E. 
Church;  published  in  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  of 
Jan.  1,  1868  : 

"  There  are  two  churches  that  I  could  secure  with  a 
little  ready  money.  Can  you  help  us  in  time  of  need  ? 

"  1.  A  church,  45  by  55,  a  plain  frame,  covered  with 
shingles,  good  floor,  with  seats  and  pulpit,  but  not 
ceiled ;  built  during  the  war,  but  has  never  been  paid 
for. 

"  Last  year  I  raised  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars, 
leaving  one  hundred  and  fifty  unpaid.  The  man  who 
owns  the  land  and  built  the  house  says  if  we  pay  him 
the  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  he  will  give  us  a  deed,  but 
we  are  so  prostrated  that  we  can  not  do  it  now.  If  we 
fail  others  will  do  it,  and  we  will  be  shut  out  of  doors. 

"  Another  church,  40  by  50,  in  general  description  like 
the  first.  This  house  was  also  built 

during  the  war  and  partly  paid  for.  The  builder  built 
on  his  own  land,  and  was  to  convey  the  title  when  paid 
for.  He  died  in  the  war,  but  his  widow  says  she  will 
give  us  a  deed  if  we  will  pay  her  the  balance,  one  hun 
dred  dollars.  Please  help  us,  if  possible,  in  this  case 
also  " 

They  held  "Church  Extension"  meetings  in  all  the 
Methodist  churches  in  the  Northern  States  to  raise  funds 
to  meet  just  such  emergencies.  An  account  of  a  "Church 
Extension  Meeting/7  held  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  is  given 
in  the  Western  Christian  Advocate  of  February  19,  1868, 
soon  after  Mr.  Miller's  letter  appeared.  The  following 
is  an  extract : 

"At  Ashbury  chapel  Bishop  Clarke  preached  with 
great  power,  and  in  conclusion  set  forth  the  claims  of 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  259 

the  Society.  He  presented  the  wants  of  three  Churches 
in  Alabama — one  could  be  saved  for  fifty  dollars,  an 
other  for  one  hundred,  and  a  third  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty.  The  Bishop  asked  the  Church  to  aid  these  socie 
ties  of  loyal  Christians  struggling  for  an  existence,  and 
Asbury  most  cheerfully  responded  in  a  contribution  of 
three  hundred  dollars." 

Upon  the  same  subject  the  Northwestern  Christian  Ad 
vocate  of  March  18,  1868,  says  : 

"  When  the  Church  Extension  Society  was  first  organ 
ized,  in  commending  the  new  cause  to  our  people,  the 
Bishops  in  their  address  said  :  'We  know  of  no  agency 
in  which  the  contribution  of  our  people  can  accomplish  a 
greater  amount  of  good.'  At  a  later  date  Bishop  Clarke, 
after  a  careful  suurvey  of  the  field,  and  especially  of  the 
South,  put  the  case  in  stronger  terms,  and  said  :  'I  do 
not  know  where  else  a  man's  money  can  be  used  with 
such  certainty  of  sure  and  large  returns." 

He  then  mentions  as  an  illustration  the  churches  re 
ported  by  Rev.  W.  P.  Miller,  and  says:  "The  money 
was  forwarded  to  Bro.  Miller  and  he  has  written  to  the 
Corresponding  Secretary  the  results,  as  follows  :  '  I  have 
invested  the  means  you  sent  me,  and  have  secured  the 
two  churches  of  which  I  wrote;  title  all  right.  The 
churches  are  frame,  and  are  worth  here  about  $1,000. 'r 

The  Missouri  and  Arkansas  Conference,  held  in  Louis 
iana,  Mo.,  March  7,  1866,  adopted  the  following : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  preachers  be  urged  to  exercise 
personal  supervision  over  such  church  property  not  yet 
secured  to  trustees,  urge  the  churches  to  select  trustees, 
and  when  this  can  not  be  done,  to  petition  the  County 
Court  to  appoint  such  officers.' '  (Pub.  Minutes,  p.  36.) 


260  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

The  Louisiana  and  Boonville  Church  property  cases 
are  in  illustration. 

All  the  Bishops  and  all  the  Conferences  of  the  M.  E. 
Church  endorsed  the  work  of  Church  Extension  in  the 
South,  just  as  it  was  carried  on  by  Mr.  Miller,  Mr.  Drake, 
Mr.  Pearne,  Dr.  Newman  and  their  associates,  and  the 
plan  was  successful. 

In  the  philosophy  of  some  men  the  end  justifies  the 
means,  and  success  satisfies  all  the  demands  of  modern 
ethics.  It  will  not  do  to  question  every  wealthy  man  or 
wealthy  Church  too  closely  as  to  how  their  property 
was  acquired  during  the  war.  It  is  enough  for  the 
curious  to  know  that  they  have  property,  and  to  hope 
that  they  have  consciences  as  well. 

That  the  M.  E.  Church  has  property  in  the  Southern 
States  in  churches,  parsonages  and  literary  institutions 
is  an  admitted  fact.  That  nearly  all,  if  not  all,  of  this 
property  has  been  acquired  in  a  very  few  years,  and 
years,  too,  of  great  poverty  and  destitution  through  the 
South,  will  not  be  denied.  Now,  take  the  following  facts 
and  figures : 

The  Tennessee  Conference  was  organized  Oct.  11, 
1866,  with  thirteen  churches  valued  at  $59,100.  At  its 
second  session  it  reported  thirty  houses  of  worship  and 
one  parsonage.  The  Georgia  Conference,  at  its  organi 
zation,  Oct.  10, 1867,  reported  forty-nine  churches.  The 
Mississippi  Conference  was  organized  in  1866  with  five 
churches,  and  at  its  session  held  in  December,  1867,  re 
ported  forty-seven  churches,  five  parsonages  and  eight 
institutions  of  learning.  In  1866  the  South  Carolina 
Conference  reports  no  churches,  but  at  its  session  in 
Charleston,  February;  1868,  reported  forty-nine  churches 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  261 

and  six  parsonages.  The  Ilolsfcon  Conference  was  organ 
ized  by  Bishop  Clarke  in  1865  with  100  churches,  valued 
at  $31,250.  At  its  session  in-  October,  1867,  just  two 
years  after,  it  reported  203  churches  and  six  parsonages. 
These  five  Conferences,  with  an  average  existence  of 
two  years,  report  408  churches,  eighteen  parsonages  and 
eight  institutions  of  learning,  at  an  estimated  aggregate 
value  of  $446,659.  The  increase  up  to  1868  will  reach 
largely  over  half  a  million. 

Others  may  ask  where  and  how  they  acquired  so 
much  property  in  so  short  a  time,  and  amongst  a  people 
desolated  and  torn  by  war  and  impoverished  even  to 
beggary  and  want  by  the  sword,  the  torch,  the  pesti- 
lence/the  famine,  the  floods,  the  drouth,  the  Bureau  and 
the  reconstruction. 

The  policy  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  as  an 
nounced  in  their  great  official  organ,  the  New  York 
Christian  Advocate,  and  carried  out  as  far  as  could  be  by 
their  emissaries  in  the  South,  was  to  "  disintegrate  and 
absorb  the  M.  E.  Church,  South:9 

Dr.  Newman,  editor  of  the  New  Orleans  Advocate, 
said  in  the  New  York  Methodist,  of  May  23,  1868 : 

*  *  *  « And  we  solemnly  hold  that  it  would  be 
of  incalculable  advantage  to  the  South,  and  the  cause  of 
Christianity  therein,  if  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  should  cease  to  be." 

Upon  the  reunion  of  the  two  Churches,  Dr.  N.  E. 
Cobleigh,  of  Athens,  Tenn.,  in  an  article  in  the  Northern 
Christian  Advocate,  of  April  1,  1868,  says  : 

"The  Church  property,  too,  of  which  we  have  taken 
possession  in  the  South,  must  be  given  back  to  them 


262  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

(the  M.  E.  Church,  South,)  before  they  will  consent  to 
treat  upon  the  subject." 

Dr.  Daniel  Curry,  editor  of  the  New  York  Christian 
Advocate,  said  before  the  Preachers'  Meeting  of  New 
York,  in  May,  1866  : 

"  Wherever  we  have  taken,  churches  the  policy  has 
proved  bad.  The  first  act  of  the  Church,  South,  toward 
us,  after  this,  was  a  charge  of  church  stealing— a  high 
crime  before  the  law.  We  did  not  mean  to  do  wrong, 
but  it  has  put  us  in  a  bad  position." 

The  New  Orleans  Advocate,  of  Feb.  10    1866,  says  : 

e<  We  have  seen  a  letter  from  Bishop  Ames,  which  was 
dated  Baltimore,  Md.,  June  20,  1866,  and  which  con 
tained  this  glorious  news  :  ( The  President  has  issued  an 
order  putting  us  in  possession  of  210  churches  and  32 
parsonages,  which  the  Eebel  Methodists  in  Virginia  have 
occupied  during  the  war.' ' 

This  was  "  glorious  news  "  to  Dr.  Newman,  himself 
occupying  at  the  time  a  church  obtained  from  "Rebel 
Methodists  "  by  this  same  Bishop  Ames  upon  an  order 
from  Mr.  Stanton,  Secretary  of  War.  These  Bishops 
had  a  summary  way  of  getting  possession  of  other  peo 
ple's  property.  The  cry  of  "Rebel  Methodists"  and 
treason  against  the  Government  from  them  and  their 
tools  could  always  move  the  Government  officials  to 
issue  such  orders  as  would  put  them  in  possession  of  the 
property  of  rebels.  But  whether  the  rebels  themselves 
were  crushed  out  or  made  better  by  the  transaction, 
are  matters  about  which  little  was  said. 

There  is  yet  another  aspect  of  this  general  question 
worthy  of  note.  AYhile  Bishop  Ames  was  in  the  South 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  263 

prosecuting  under  War  Department  orders  his  great 
scheme  of  ecclesiastical  piracy,  and  the  many  smaller 
ecclesiastics  were  similarly  engaged  in  other  portions 
of  the  conquered  provinces,  steps  were  being  taken  to 
forestall  the  Bishop  when  his  ecclesiastical  ram  should 
be  directed  against  the  "  Rebel  Methodists  "  of  St.  Louis, 
lion.  John  Ilogan.  member  of  Congress  from  St.  Louis. 

o       /  o 

went  to  "Washington  and  made  representations  to  the 
President  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  when  the  good 
Bishop  reached  St.  Louis  he  was  met  by  an  order  from 
the  War  Department,  with  an  endorsement  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States,,  repealing  his  Stanton 
order  and  putting  an  estoppel  upon  his  proceedings, 
especially  in  Missouri. 

The  following  order  was  obtained  by  Mr.  Hogan  from 
the  War  Department,  with  President  Lincoln's  endorse 
ment  exempting  the  churches  of  Missouri  from  seizure 
under  Mr.  Stanton' s  order: 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  ) 
""WASHINGTON,  February  13,  1864.      j 

Order.] 

"  Major  General  Nosccrans,  U.  S.  Volunteers,  Commanding 

Department  of  the  Missouri,  St.  Louis,  Mo.: 
"  SIR:  I  am  directed  bjT  the  Secretary  of  War  to  say 
that  the  orders  from  the  Department  placing  at  the  dis 
posal  of  the  constituted  Church  authorities  in  the 
Northern  States  houses  of  worship  in  other  States  is 
designed  to  apply  only  to  such  States  as  are  designated 
by  the  President's  Proclamation  as  being  in  rebellion, 
and  is  not  designed  to  operate  in  loyal  States,  nor  in 
cases  where  loyal  congregations  in  rebel  States  shall  be 


264  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

organized  and  worship  upon  the  terms  prescribed  by 
the  President's  Amnesty  Proclamation. 

"I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

"JAS.  A.  HARDIE, 
"Assistant  Adjutant-General." 

This  order  bears  the  following  endorsement  in  Mr. 
Lincoln's  own  proper  hand  : 

"As  you  see  within,  the  Secretary  of  War  modifies 
his  order  so  as  to  exempt  Missouri  from  it.  Kentucky 
was  never  within  it ;  nor,  as  I  learn  from  the  Secretary, 
was  it  ever  intended  for  any  more  than  a  means  of  rally 
ing  the  Methodist  people  in  favor  of  the  Union  in  locali 
ties  where  the  rebellion  had  disorganized  and  scattered 
them.  Even  in  that  view  I  fear  it  is  liable  to  some 
abuses;  but  it  is  not  quite  easy  to  withdraw  it  entirely, 
and  at  once.  A.  LINCOLN. 

"February  IS,  1864." 

That  is  a  damaging  disclosure.  "Were  Mr.  Stan  ton, 
Secretary  of  War,  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  imposed  upon  and  deceived  by  these  high 
Church  dignitaries  ?  The  famous  Stanton-Ames  order 
"  never  intended  for  any  more  than  a  means  of  rallying 
the  Methodist  people  in  favor  of  the  Union  in  localities 
where  the  rebellion  had  disorganized  and  scattered 
them  ! '  Was  it  ever  used  for  other  purposes  ?  How 
about  the  Churches  seized  and  appropriated  by  authority 
of  this  same  order  in  cities  and  communities  where  the 
Methodist  people  had  never  been  disorganized  and  scat 
tered,  and  where  "  the  Methodist  people  "  intended  to 
be  "rallied"  had  never  been  organized — never  even 
had  an  existence  ? 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  265 

It  did  not  require  Mr.  Lincoln's  sagacity  to  see  that 
such  an  order  was  "  liable  to  some  abuse/'  but  it  does 
require  a  good  deal  of  effort  to  believe  that  even  North 
ern  Methodist  Bishops  could  deceive  the  Government, 
and  then  pervert  and  "  abuse"  an  order  from  the  War 
Department.  But  we  are  forced  to  accept  the  facts  in 
the  case. 

The  action  of  Mr.  liogan  and  his  success  in  defeating 
the  purposes  of  Bishop  Ames  gave  hope  and  courage  to 
others,  and  in  June,  1865,  Dr.  Keener,  of  New  Orleans, 
went  to  Washington  and  made  a  formal  and  most  earnest 
application  to  the  President  and  Secretary  of  War  for 
the  restoration  of  the  churches  in  Louisiana  to  their 
rightful  owners. 

He  remained  in  Washington  prosecuting  his  almost 
hopeless  mission  for  four  long,  weary  months.  After 
this  wearisome  prosecution  of  what  seemed  to  be  a  for 
lorn  hope,  the  President  (Mr.  Johnson)  gave  the  order 
and  restored  the  property,  which  the  Northern  Bishops 
could  have  restored  with  the  stroke  of  a  pen.  This 
gracious  favor  was  obtained  from  the  President  much 
upon  the  principle  of  the  widow  and  the  unjust  judge : 
"And  there  was  a  widow  in  that  city;  and  she  came 
unto  him  and  said,  avenge  me  of  mine  adversary.  And 
he  would  not  for  awhile;  but  afterward  he  said  within 
himself,  though  I  fear  not  God,  nor  regard  man,  yet, 
because  this  widow  troubleth  me,  I  will  avenge  her,  lest 
by  her  continual  coming  she  weary  me." 

So  it  was  the  Churches,  at  least  some  of  them,  were 
restored.  "And  will  not  God  avenge  his  own  elect 
which  cry  day  and  night  unto  him  ?  I  tell  you,  he  will 
avenge  them  speedily." 


266  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

Enboldcned  by  success,  others  made  application  to 
the  President  for  the  restoration  of  their  churches. 
Upon  such  application  the  churches  in  Yicksburg,  Miss., 
Memphis  and  Nashville,  Tenn.,  were  given  up. 

In  regard  to  the  latter  a  Nashville  (Tenn.)  correspond 
ent  of  a  Northern  Methodist  paper  says : 

"  Things  are  moving  slowly,  as  far  as  our  church  is 
concerned.  Upon  an  order  from  Bishop  Simpson,  we 
vacated  McKendree  last  week,  and  are  now  holding  ser 
vices  in  Masonic  Hall.  Our  congregations  are  small, 
but  we  hope  for  better  times.  *  *  *  *  Our  dear 
Southern  brethren  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  persuasion  are  nocking  back  to  their  old  haunts, 
and  hold  up  their  heads  as  if  they  were  not  guilty  of  the 
blood  and  suffering  of  the  past  four  years." 

"  Upon  an  order  from  Bishop  Simpson  "  they  vacated 
McKendree,  after  they  had  been  put  into  it  and  occu 
pied  it  so  long  upon  an  order  from  Bishop  or  General 
somebody  else.  But  who  "  ordered  "  Bishop  Simpson  ? 
Why  did  he  require  his  brethren  to  "vacate  Mc 
Kendree  ?"  For  the  same  reason  that  Dr.  Newman  va 
cated  Carondelet  street  Church,  New  Orleans,  and  the 
churches  in  Memphis,  Yicksburg  and  other  places  were 
vacated. 

Others  may  detail  the  "pious  fraud"  upon  the 
churches  at  Knoxville,  and  Athens,  and  other  places  in 
Tennessee,  while  the  general  subject  only  requires  here 
a  notice  of  the  Memorial  of  the  Holston  Conference, 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  to  the  General  Conference  of  the 
M.  E.  Church  at  Chicago,  in  the  spring  of  1868,  and  the 
notice  taken  of  it  by  that  General  Conference.  The 
following  is  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  267 

MEMORIAL  OF  THE  IIOLSTON  CONFERENCE  METHODIST  EPISCO 
PAL  CHURCH,  SOUTH. 

"  To  the  Bishops  and  Members  of  the  General  Conference 

of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  at  Chicago,  Ills., 

May,  1SG8 : 

"The  undersigned  were  appointed  a  committee  at  the 
session  of  the  Holston  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  held  at  Cleveland,  East  Tennessee,  in  October 
last,  to  memorialize  your  reverend  body,  and  to  set  forth 
distinctly  the  wrongs  which  we  are  suffering  at  the 
hands  of  agents  of  the  M.  E.  Church  within  our  bounds; 
and  also  to  entreat  you  to  devise  some  means  by  which 
an  end  may  bo  made  to  these  outrages,  for  the  honor 
of  Methodism  and  for  the  sake  of  our  common  Christi 
anity. 

"Our  churches  have  been  seized  by  ministers  and 
members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  are  still  held  and 
used  by  them  as  houses  of  worship. 

"  To  give  the  semblance  of  legality  to  these  acts  and 
of  right  to  this  property,  trustees  have  been  appointed 
by  the  authorities  of  the  M.  E.  Church;  and  these 
churches  are  annually  reported  by  your  ministers  in 
their  Conference  statistics. 

"  From  these  churches  our  ministers  are  either  ex 
cluded  and  driven,  or  allowed  only  a  joint  occupancy 
with  your  ministers.  From  some  of  them  our  ministers 
in  their  regular  rounds  of  district  and  circuit  work  are 
excluded  by  locks  and  bars,  or  by  armed  men  meeting 
them  at  the  doors ;  from  others  they  are  driven  by  mobs, 
and  threatened  with  death  should  they  attempt  a  re 
turn  ;  at  one  a  presiding  elder  and  a  preacher  in  charge 
of  the  circuit,  at  a  quarterly  meeting  appointment;  were 


268  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

arrested  and  marched  fifteen  miles  amidst  indignities 
and  insults:  at  another,  an  aged  and  godly  minister  was  i 
ridden  upon  a  rail;  at  another,  the  same  man  found  at  ! 
the  door  bundles  of  rods  and  nails,  and  also  a  written 
notice  prohibiting  him  from  preaching  at  the  risk  of 
torture ;  at  another,  a  notice  was  handed  to  our  preacher, 
signed  by  a  class  leader  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  in  which 
was  the  following  language :  '  If  you  come  back 
here  again  we  will  handle  you ;'  and,  true  to  the  threat, 
on  a  subsequent  round,  not  two  miles  from  the  place, 
this  worthy  minister,  as  he  was  passing  to  his  appoint 
ment  on  the  second  Sabbath  in  February  last,  was  taken 
from  his  horse,  struck  a  severe  blow  upon  the  head, 
blindfolded,  tied  to  a  tree,  scourged  to  laceration,  and 
then  ordered  to  lie  with  his  face  to  the  ground  until  his 
scourgers  should  withdraw,  with  the  threat  of  death  for 
disobedience.  All  this  he  was  told,  too,  was  for  travel 
ing  that  circuit  and  preaching  the  gospel  as  a  Southern 
Methodist  preacher;  from  another,  the  children  and 
teachers  of  our  Sabbath  School  were  ejected  while  in 
session  by  a  company  of  men,  who  were  led  by  a  minis 
ter  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

"Our  parsonages,  also,  have  been  seized  and  occupied 
by  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  no  rent  having  been 
paid  to  us  for  their  use. 

"  Thirty-six  hundred  dollars,  appropriated  upon  our 
application  to  the  United  States  Government  for  dam 
ages  done  to  our  church  at  Knoxville  during  the  war, 
were,  by  some  sleight-of-hand  movement,  passed  into 
the  hands  of  a  minister  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  This 
money  is  still  held  from  us. 

"In  other  cases,  school  and  church  property  of  our's 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  269 

on  which  debts  were  resting  has  been  forced  upon  the 
market  by  agents  in  your  interests,  and  thereby  wrested 
from  our  poverty  and  added  to  your  abundance. 

"Members  of  the  M.  E.  Church  constitute,  in  part, 
the  mobs  that  insult  and  maltreat  our  preachers,  while 
ministers  of  the  same  Church,  by  words  and  acts,  cither 
countenance  or  encourage  our  persecutors.  In  no  in 
stance,  so  far  as  we  are  advised,  has  any  one  for  such 
conduct  been  arraigned,  or  censured  even,  by  those  ad 
ministering  the  discipline  of  your  Church. 

"  We  could  specify  the  name  of  each  of  these  churches, 
and  the  locality,  were  it  necessary,  in  which  our  minis 
ters  and  people  are  either  permitted  sometimes  to 
worship,  or  from  which  they  are  excluded  and  driven 
by  locks,  threats,  mobs  and  bloody  persecutions.  Their 
names  are  in  our  possession,  and  at  your  disposal. 
About  one  hundred  church  edifices  are  held  in  one  or 
another  of  these  ways,  with  a  value  of  not  less  than 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars. 

"Of  this  property,  it  should  be  added,  some  was 
deeded  to  the  M.  E.  Church  before  1844,  and  the  rest, 
since  that  time,  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  That  it  is 
all  claimed  by  the  M.  E.  Church  in  East  Tennessee  we 
suppose  to  be  true,  or  it  would  not  be  reported  and  re 
ceived  in  their  Annual  Conference  statistics.  That  it 
belongs  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  we  suppose  also  to 
be  true,  inasmuch  as  all  deeds  since  1844  have  been  made 
to  us,  and  all  the  remainder  were  granted  to  us  by  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in 
the  Church  suit;  unless  the  ground  be  assumed  by  your 
reverend  body  that  when  Lee  surrendered  to  Grant  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South,  surrendered  also  to  the  M.  E. 


270  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Church  all  her  property  rights.  Surely  if  the  United 
States  Government  does  not  confiscate  the  property  of 
those  who  are  called  rebels,  the  M.  E.  Church,  in  her 
highest  legislative  assembly,  will  hardly  set  a  precedent 
by  claiming  the  property  of  their  Southern  brethren. 

"  But  it  may,  perhaps,  be  said  that  we  have  been  sin 
ners,  rebels,  traitors,  touching  our  civil  and  political 
relations  to  the  Government.  If  this  be  so,  we  are  un 
able  to  comprehend  by  what  authority  we  are  to  be 
punished  by  the  M.  E.  Church,  since  for  our  moral 
obliquities  we  are  responsible  alone  to  God,  and  for  our 
political  crimes  only  to  the  United  States  Government. 

"  It  may  also  be  asked,  what  jurisdiction  has  your 
General  Conference  over  these  deeds  of  injustice  ?  No 
civil  jurisdiction,  we  are  aware ;  but  your  reverend  body 
does  possess  a  moral  power  of  such  weight  that,  if 
brought  to  bear  in  East  Tennessee,  there  would  be  an 
end  to  these  acts  of  oppression  and  cruelty.  A  word 
of  disapproval,  even,  from  your  Board  of  Bishops,  or 
the  publication  in  your  Church  papers  of  some  of  the 
above  cited  facts,  with  editorial  condemnation,  would 
have  done  much  to  mitigate,  if  not  entirely  to  remove, 
the  cause  of  our  complaints;  but  we  have  neither  heard 
the  one  nor  seen  the  other.  Why  this  has  not  been 
done  is  believed  by  us  to  be  a  want  of  knowledge  of 
these  facts,  of  which  we  now  put  you  in  possession. 
Familiar  as  we  are  with  the  condition  of  things  in  East 
Tennessee,  and  with  the  workings  of  the  two  Metho- 
disms  there,  we  are  satisfied  that  your  body  could,  by 
judicious  action,  remove  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  causes 
which  now  occasion  strife,  degrade  Methodism,  and 
scandalize  our  holy  religion.  We,  therefore,  ask— 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  271 

"1st.  That  you  will  ascertain  the  grounds  upon 
which  the  M.  E.  Church  claims  and  holds  the  property 
in  church  buildings  and  parsonages  within  her  bounds 
in  East  Tennessee,  as  reported  in  her  Holston  Mission 
Conference  statistics. 

"  2d.  If  in  the  investigation  any  property  so  reported 
shall  be  adjudged  by  you  to  belong  of  right  to  the  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  that  you  will  designate  what  that  pro 
perty  is,  and  where ;  and  also  instruct  your  ministers 
and  people  to  relinquish  their  claims  upon  the  same,  re 
possess  us,  and  leave  us  in  the  undisturbed  occupancy 
thereof. 

"  3d.  Inasmuch  as  your  words  of  wisdom  and  of 
justice  will  be  words  of  power,  that  you  earnestly  ad 
vise  all  your  ministers  laboring  in  this  field  to  abstain 
from  every  word  and  act  the  tendency  of  which  would 
be  the  subversion  of  good  order  and  peace  in  the  com 
munities  in  which  they  move. 

"In  conclusion,  allow  us  to  add,  that  in  presenting 
this  memorial  to  your  reverend  body  we  are  moved 
thereto  by  no  other  spirit  than  that  of  ardent  desire  to 
promote  the  interests  of  our  common  Redeemer  by 
'  spreading  scriptural  holiness  over  these  lands/ 

"E.  E.  WILEY, 

"  W.    G.    E.    CUNNYNGHAM, 
"WM.    ROBESON, 

ft  B.  ARBOGAST, 
"C.  LONG, 

"J.    M.    McTEER, 

"  GEORGE  STEWART, 

"Members  of  the    Holston    Conference  of  the    M.    E. 
Church,  South. 
"April,  186S." 


272  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

This  memorial^  so  respectful  and  dignified,  and  upon 
so  grave  a  matter,  was  referred,  without  being  read  or 
printed,  to  a  select  committee  of  seven.  And  though 
presented  and  referred  early  in  the  session,  no  further 
notice  was  taken  of  it,  and  the  committee  did  not  bring 
in  a  report  until  the  very  last  day  of  the  session  and 
just  before  the  final  adjournment.  The  report  of  the 
select  committee  was  read  amid  great  confusion,  and 
passed  without  debate  by  a  very  small  vote,  but  few  of 
the  members  of  the  General  Conference  feeling  inter 
ested  enough  either  to  listen  or  vote.' 

The  Daily  Advocate,  of  June  3,  1868,  contains  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  the  affair,  with  the  report  of  the 
special  committee  as  adopted  : 

"  The  report  of  the  committee  on  the  memorial  of  the 
Holston  Conference  was  presented  and  read,  and,  on 
motion,  adopted. 

"  The  report,  as  adopted,  is  as  follows  : 

"  Your  committee  have  had  before  them  a  memorial 
from  a  committee  of  seven  appointed  by  the  Holston 
Conference,  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  stating  that 
our  ministers  and  people  within  that  region  have  seized 
the  churches  and  parsonages  belonging  to  said  Church, 
South,  and  maltreated  their  ministers.  The  statements 
of  the  paper  are  all  indefinite,  both  as  to  places,  times 
and  persons,  and  no  one  has  appeared  to  explain  or  de 
fend  the  charges.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  also  before 
us,  referred  to  our  consideration,  numerous  affidavits 
from  ministers  and  members  of  our  Church,  in  various 
parts  of  this  country,  evidently  designed  to  refute  any 
charges  that  might  be  presented  by  this  committee  of 
seven.  It  seems  from  these  papers  that  as  soon  as  the 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  273 

federal  power  was  re-established  in  East  Tennessee  whole 
congregations  came  over  to  the  M.  E.  Church,  bringing 
with  them  their  churches  and  parsonages,  that  they 
might  continue  to  use  them  for  worship.  It  also  seems 
that  much  of  the  property  in  question  is  deeded  to  the 
M.  E.  Church,  it  being  so  held  before  the  secession  of 
the  Church,  South.  We  have  no  proof  that  any  in  con 
test  is  held  otherwise.  The  General  Conference  possesses 
no  power,  if  it  would,  to  divest  the  occupants  of  this 
property  of  the  use  or  ownership  of  it,  paid  for  by  their 
means,  and  would  be  guilty  of  great  impropriety  in  in 
terfering  at  all  at  this  time  when  tost  cases  are  already 
before  the  courts.  If,  however,  we  should  proceed  so  to 
do,  with  the  evidence  before  us  largely  ex  parte,  it  is 
true,  but  all  that  we  have,  the  presentation  of  the  memo 
rialists  can  not  be  sustained.  By  personal  examinations 
we  have  endeavored  in  vain  to  ascertain  what  founda 
tion  there  is  for  the  affirmation  that  our  ministers  and 
people  encourage  violence  toward  the  ministers  of  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South.  We  believe  and  trust  there  is  no 
foundation  for  the  charge,  for  if  true,  it  could  but  meet 
our  unqualified  disapprobation.  Our  own  ministers  and 
people  in  the  South  suffer  severely  in  this  way,  and 
sometimes,  we  apprehend,  at  the  hands  of  our  Southern 
brethren,  but  neither  the  spirit  of  our  Master,  the  genius 
of  our  people,  nor  our  denominational  interest  could 
allow  us  to  approbate  in  any  parties  the  practice.  We 
are  glad  to  know  that  our  brethren  laboring  in  that  re 
gion  had  their  attention  early  called  to  these  matters, 
and  we  content  ourself  with  repeating  the  sentiments 
of  their  address  to  the  people.  It  was  in  effect  as 
published  in  the  Knoxville  Whig,  by  authority  of  at 
18 


274  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

least  four  presiding  elders,  and  several  other  members 
of  the  Holston  Conference,  as  well  as  often  stated  from 
our  pulpits  in  the  South,  and  through  our  Church  papers 
in  the  North,  that  violence  toward  the  preachers  and 
people  of  the  Church,  South,  is  unwise,  unchristian  and 
dangerous.  Our  preachers  and  people  in  the  South,  so 
far  as  we  are  apprised  and  believe,  have  all  and  ever 
held  this  position  on  the  subject.  We  recommend  the 
following  : 

"  Resolved,  That  all  the  papers  connected  with  this 
matter  be  referred  to  the  Holston  Conference,  believing 
as  we  do  that  this  Conference,  in  the  future  as  in  the 
past,  will  be  careful  to  do  justly,  and,  as  much  as  lieth 
in  them,  to  live  peaceably  with  all  men. 

"  Your  committee  have  also  had  before  them  a  letter, 
published  in  various  Southern  journals,  and  signed  by 
S.  F.  Waldro,  being  dated  from  Chicago,  and  presuming 
to  state  the  objects  and  intentions  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Conference  in  the  prosecution  of  its  Southern 
work.  We  are  also  informed  that  several  similar  letters 
have  been  published  in  the  South.  No  effort  that  we 
have  been  able  to  make  has  enabled  us  to  discover  any 
such  person  in  this  city.  Certainly  no  such  person  has 
a  right  to  speak  in  our  behalf  or  declare  our  purposes, 
much  less  does  he  declare  them  correctly.  We  recom 
mend  that  the  paper  be  dismissed  as  anonymous  and 
unworthy  of  our  further  consideration. 

"  L.  HITCHCOCK,  Chairman. 

"3.   M.  EEID,  Secretary." 

The  War  Department  at  Washington  issued  an  order 
similar  to  the  "  Stanton-Ames  Order,"  in  the  interests 
of  the  "American  Baptist  Home  Mission  Society,"  re- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  275 

quiring  all  houses  of  worship  belonging  to  the  Baptists 
in  the  military  departments  of  the  South,  in  which  a 
loyal  minister  did  not  officiate,  to  be  turned  over  to  the 
agents  or  officers  of  the  American  Baptist  Home  Mission 
Society,  and  ordering  Government  transportation  and 
subsistence  to  be  furnished  such  agents  and  their  clerks. 
Dated  Jan.  14,  1864. 

This  was  a  new  mode  of  warfare,  and  will  ever  stand 
upon  the  historic  page  as  humiliating  to  enlightened 
Christian  sentiment,  as  it  is  forever  damaging  to  the 
spirit  and  genius  of  American  institutions  and  the  true 
interests  of  Messiah's  kingdom  on  earth. 

"While  American  citizens  are  generally  unwilling  to 
be  instructed  in  the  higher  civil  and  religious  interests 
of  this  country  by  foreigners,  yet  it  will  not  be  denied 
that  many  of  the  finest,  shrewdest  and  wisest  journalists 
of  the  country  are  from  foreign  lands. 

As  a  befitting  close  to  this  part  of  the  subject,  and  a 
wise  warning  to  the  politico-religious  fanatics  who  think 
little  of  the  effect  of  their  reckless  disregard  of  the 
sacred  relations  of  Church  and  State,  an  extract  from 
the  St.  Louis  Anzeiger,  a  German  paper  of  much  char 
acter  and  influence,  will  be  appropriate. 

It  is  upon  the  general  subject  of  the  Administration 
running  the  Churches,  as  developed  in  the  order  from 
the  War  Department  creating  Bishop  Ames  Bishop  of  a 
Military  Department,  and  authorizing  him  to  take  pos 
session  of  the  Methodist  churches  of  Missouri,  Tennessee 
and  the  Gulf  States.  It  says  : 

"Here  we  have,  in  optima  forma,  the  commencement 
of  Federal  interference  with  religious  affairs;  and  this 
interference  occurs  in  cities  and  districts  where  war  has 


276  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ceased,  and  even  in  States,  like  Missouri,  which  have 
never  joined  the  secession  movement. 

et  Doubtless  the  Federal  Government  has  the  right  to 
exercise  the  utmost  rigor  of  the  law  against  rebel 
clergymen,  as  well  as  against  all  other  criminal  citizens; 
nay,  it  may  even  close  churches  in  districts  under  mili 
tary  law  when  these,  churches  are  abused  for  political 
purposes ;  but  this  is  the  utmost  limit  to  which  military 
power  may  go.  Every  step  beyond  this  is  an  arbitrary 
attack  upon  the  constitutionally  guaranteed  right  of 
religious  freedom,  and  upon  the  fundamental  law  of 
the  American  Kepublican  Government — separation  of 
Church  and  State.  The  violation  of  the  Constitution 
committed  in  the  appointment  of  a  Military  Bishop — 
one  would  be  forced  to  laugh  if  the  affair  were  not  so 
serious  in  principle — is  so  much  the  more  outrageous 
and  wicked,  as  it  is  attempted  in  States  which,  like  Mis 
souri,  have  never  separated  -from  the  Union,  and  in 
which  all  the  departments  of  civil  administration  are  in 
regular  activity. 

"This  order  of  the  War  Department  is  the  commence 
ment  of  State  and  Federal  interference  in  the  affairs  of 
the  Churches.  It  is  not  a  single  military  suspension  or 
banishment  order,  which  might  be  exceptional  and  for 
a  temporary  purpose.  It  is  not  the  act  of  a  General 
who,  sword  in  hand,  commands  the  priest  to  pray  for 
him,  as  we  read  of  in  times  long  ago.  It  is  far  more. 
It  is  an  administrative  decree  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  appropriating  Church  property,  regulating  Church 
communities,  and  installing  Bishops.  A  similar  order 
has  been  issued  for  the  Baptist  Church  of  the  South. 

"  If  this  is  the  commencement,  where  will  the  end  be  ? 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  277 

The  pretense  that  it  is  merely  a  proceeding  against  dis 
loyal  clergymen  will  deceive  nobody.  Bad  actions 
have  never  wanted  good  pretenses.  With  the  same 
right  with  which  the  Secretary  of  War  makes  Bishop 
Ames  chief  of  a  Church  in  the  South  he  may  also  inter 
fere  in  the  affairs  of  all  other  Churches;  or  even  dissolve 
any  Church  at  pleasure.  We  ask  again,  Where  is  the 
end  to  be  ?  and  what  principle  of  American  constitu 
tional  law  will  remain  if  freedom  of  religion  and  of 
conscience  is  at  the  mercy  of  any  commander  of  a  mili 
tary  post  ?" 


278  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 


CHAPTEE    XV. 

MARTYRDOM  —  REVS.     J.    M.     PROCTOR,     M.    ARRINGTON,    J. 

M'GLOTHLIN  AND  JAMES  PENN. 

Philosophy  of  Martyrdom — Living  Martyrs  —  Kames  Made  Im 
mortal  by  Persecution  —  Martyrs  of  Missouri  —  Difference 
Between  Martyrs  for  the  Testimony  of  Jesus,  only  Questions 
of  Time  and  Place— The  Spirit  the' Same  Everywhere— Causes 
—  Explanatory  Kemarks  —  Rev.  James  M.  Proctor  Arrested 
Coming  out  of  the  Pulpit— Connection  with  the  M.  E.  Churcn, 
South, "his  only  Offense— Kept  in  Prison  for  Weeks,  then  Keleased 
— Rev.  Marcus  Arrington — Chaplain — Insulted — Kept  in  Alton 
Prison— Rev.  John  Me Glo thlin— Petty  Persecution  and  Tyranny 
— Rev.  James  Penn — Meeting  Broken  Up — Driven  from  His  own 
Churches  by  a  Northern  Methodist  Preacher  Leading  an  Armed 
Mob — Persecution — Prayer. 

Men  die,  but  truth  is  immortal.  The  workmen  are 
buried,  but  the  work  goes  on.  Institutions  pass  away, 
but  the  principles  of  which  they  were  the  incarnation 
live  forever.  The  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life  "  was 
manifested  in  the  flesh,  justified  in  the  spirit,  seen  of 
angels,  preached  unto  the  Gentiles,  believed  on  in  the 
world,  received  up  into  glory." 

Incarnate  Innocence  was  "  despised  and  rejected  of 
men."  The  Manger,  the  Garden,  the  Cross,  are  but 
different  aspects  of  the  life  and  light  of  men,  and  illus 
trate  the  history  of  the  "Man  of  Sorrows."  The  dis 
ciple  is  not  above  his  Lord,  nor  the  servant  better  than 
his  Master,  and  if  such  things  were  done  in  the  green 
tree,  what  hope  is  there  for  the  dry  ? 

There  are  many  living  martyrs.  Death  is  not  a 
necessary  condition  of  martyrdom.  The  souls  of  many 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  279 

martyrs  have  not  yet  readied  their  resting  place  "under 
the  altar."  They  have  met  the  conditions  of  martyu- 
dom  in  the  garden  of  agony  without  reaching  the  cross. 
Some  men,  who  still  live,  have  suffered  more  for  Christ 
and  his  Church  than  many  who  have  ended  their  suffer 
ings  with  their  lives.  Not  the  nature  but  the  cause  of 
suffering  imparts  to  it  the  moral  quality  and  the  virtues  of 
martyrdom.  "Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 
31any  suffer  and  die,  but  not  "  for  righteousness' 
sake,"  and  very  many  "  arc  persecuted  for  righteous 
ness'  sake"  who  still  live.  The  grave  does  not  limit  the 
roll  of  martyrs.  Robinson  and  Head  lee,  and  Glanville 
and  Wollard  may  have  suffered  less  for  righteousness' 
sake  than  Cleavland,  Breeding,  M'Anally,  Penn,  Duvall, 
Spencer,  Rush  and  man}*  others  who  still  live  to  bear 
witness  to  the  truth.  True,  it  is  something  to  sacrifice  life 

*  o 

for  a  principle  and  a  cause — to  seal  the  testimony  with 
the  blood.  Moral  heroism  can  reach  no  higher  form,  nor 
express  itself  in  no  more  exalted  type.  Its  purest  fire 
goes  out  and  its  sublirnest  consecration  culminates  in 
the  lifV-  blood  of  the  martyr.  Many  a  noble  spirit  has 
been  offered  up  in  the  sacrifice  and  service  of  faith,  and, 
like  Isaac,  bound  hand  and  foot  upon  the  altar,  with  the 
fatal  knife  glittering  and  gleaming  in  the  upraised  hand  of 
the  executioner,  yet  has  been  rescued  by  the  interposing 
voice,  when  perfect  faith  stood  vindicated  in  the  complete 
consecration.  "Was  not  Abraham,  our  father,  justified 
by  works  when  he  had  offered  Isaac,  his  son,  upon 
the  altar'/"  As  much  so  as  if  the  knife  had  been  driven 
to  his  heart  and  the  fires  had  consumed  his  body.  Yet 
Abraham's  faith  was  vindicated  by  his  works,  and  Isaac 


280  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

lived  to  perpetuate  the  story  of  his  offering.  St.  Paul 
says  :  " For  thy  sake  we  are  killed  all  the  day  long;  we 
are  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter. "  And  again  : 
"I  protest  by  your  rejoicing  which  I  have  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord;  I  die  daily."  He  was  a  living  martyr, 
and  many  Apostles  and  righteous  men  have,  like  him, 
been  "killed  all  the  day  long"  and  "die  daily." 

Historical  facts  in  support  of  the  position  taken  are 
neither  wanting  nor  few,  and  the  roll  of  living  and  dead 
martyrs  in  Missouri,  now  to  be  recorded  in  these  pages, 
will  vindicate  the  position  and  illustrate  the  annals  of 
religious  persecution  with  a  chapter  but  little  removed 
from  the  horrors  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  and  the 
persecutions  of  the  Vaudois  Christians  and  Waldenses 
under  Francis  I.,  Henry  II.,  Catherine  De  Medicis  and 
other  notable  instruments  of  power  in  France,  which 
culminated  in  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew. 

Many  names  have  been  given  a  fame  as  enduring  as 
the  virtues  they  were  made  to  illustrate,  by  the  force  and 
fire  and  fact  of  persecution,  which  otherwise  would  have 
perished  from  the  earth.  And  the  cause  for  which  they 
were  persecuted  has  been  given  a  sanctity  in  the  hearts 
and  a  power  over  the  lives  of  men  which  otherwise  it 
could  not  have  received.  A  name  however  obscure,  and 
a  character  however  humble,  become  illustrious  despite 
of  history  when  associated  with  persecution,  suffering 
and  death,  for  a  principle  and  a  cause  which  invest  hu 
manity  with  the  purer  and  higher  types  of  intellectual, 
moral  and  religious  life.  Around  such  names  the  di- 
vinest  principles  crystallize,  and  by  such  characters  the 
deepest  and  purest  fountains  of  humanity  are  touched. 
Hampden,  and  Russell,  and  Howard,  and  Sidney,  and 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  281 

Eliot,  and  Brainard,  and  Wilberforce,  and  Martin,  and 
others  who  sacrificed  all  for  the  political,  mental  and 
moral  enfranchisement  of  their  race,  have  made  them 
selves  immortal,  as  their  names  are  enshrined  in  the 
deepest  heart  of  our  nature.  They  will  live  forever  in 
the  cause  for  which  they  suffered.  So,  too,  many  of  less 
note  have  been  given  a  fame  as  enduring  as  columns  of 
brass,  and  they  will  be  handed  down  to  posterity  with 
out  the  factitious  aid  of  monuments  of  marble  or  pyra 
mids  of  granite. 

Profane  history,  philosophy  and  poetry  may  treat  the 
martyr  for  the  truth  cavalierly  or  ignore  his  claims 
altogether,  while  they  panegyrize  his  executioner.  Yet 
he  will  live  in  the  hearts  of  men,  ennoble  the  virtues  of 
men,  illustrate  the  heroism  of  men,  and  thrill  the  purest 
souls  of  men  with  life  and  immortality  after  the  names 
of  those  who  despised  and  rejected  him  have  perished 
in  eternal  forgetfulness. 

The  sweet-spirited  Cowper  has  anticipated  this  fact 
and  put  his  more  than  poetic  conception  into  the  most 
expressive  and  poetic  language  : 

"  A  patriot's  blood  may  earn  indeed, 
And  for  a  time  insure  to  his  loved  land 
The  sweets  of  liberty  and  equal  laws ; 
But  martyrs  struggle  for  a  brighter  prize, 
And  win  it  with  more  pain.     Their  blood  is  shed 
In  confirmation  of  the  noblest  claim — 
Our  claim  to  feed  upon  immortal  truth, 
To  walk  with  God,  to  be  divinely  free, 
To  soar  and  to  anticipate  the  skies." 

The  martyrs  of  Missouri,  though  unknown  to  fame 
and  unambitious  of  distinction,  have,  in  their  humble, 
unostentatious,  quiet  way,  suffered  as  keenly  and  as 


282  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

severely  as  any  others.  They  have  taken  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods  as  joyfully,  "  counted  all  things  but  loss 
for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus 
the  Lord,"  "  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  them 
selves  so  that  thej'  might  finish  their  course  with  joy 
and  the  ministry  which  they  have  received  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,"  and  in  all 
their  sufferings  for  righteousness'  sake  have  entered  as 
fully  into  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  even  in  sealing  their 
testimony  with  their  blood,  as  did  John  Calos,  Nicholas 
Burton,  Paul  Clement,  John  IIuss,  Jerome  of  Prague, 
Bishops  Latimer  and  Ridley,  Archbishop  Cramner,  or 
any  other  of  the  long  roll  of  distinguished  martyrs. 

The  martyrs  of  Missouri  may  not  occupy  a  place  as 
high  as  others  on  the  scrolls  of  fame,  yet  it  is  only  a 
difference  of  time  and  country.  It  is  the  meridian  of 
the  ninteenth,  instead  of  the  fifteenth,  sixteenth  or 
seventeenth  century.  We  are  in  Missouri,  one  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  instead  of  Madrid,  the  valleys 
of  Piedmont  and  Savoy,  or  Paris,  or  Italy,  or  Bohemia, 
or  Turin,  or  London,  or  any  other  country  or  place 
where  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  has  been  shed  for  the 
testimony  of  Jesus.  The  spirit  of  persecution  is  the 
same,  and  the  high  sense  of  consecration  to  God  and 
fidelity  to  Jesus  that  led  the  old  martyrs  to  the  rack  and 
the  stake  have  not  been  wanting  in  the  ministers  of  the 
gospel  in  Missouri.  The  spirit,  the  heroism,  the  faith, 
the  zeal,  the  devotion,  were  all  here;  and  but  for  the 
remaining  sense  of  enlightened  Christianity  that  had 
been  so  long  fostered  by  the  genius  of  our  free  institu 
tions,  and  the  power  it  still  exercised  upon  the  public 
mind,  the  rack,  the  stake  and  all  the  horrible  fires  of 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  283 

the  Inquisition  would  have  been  here  also.  The  absence 
of  these  and  other  instruments  of  torture  from  the  history 
of  martyrdom  in  Missouri  is  due  to  other  causes  than  the 
spirit  and  design  of  the  authors  and  agents  of  religious 
persecution.  The  spirit  was  willing,  but  the  cause  and 
the  occasion  were  wanting.  Mobocracy  sometimes  in 
vented  a  cause  and  made  an  occasion.  The  victim  was 
found  and  offered  without  an  altar.  In  such  cases  brutal 
cruelty  was  scarcely  softened  by  religious  refinement. 

Some  suffered  for  intermeddling  with  party  politics; 
some  for  declining  to  take  the  oath  of  loyalty  to  the 
Government,  as  ministers;  others  for  refusing  to  preach 
under  a  flag ;  others  because  they  did  not  pray  for  the 
destruction  of  all  rebels ;  others  for  expressing  sympa 
thy  for  one  side  or  the  other;  others  because  they  were 
born  and  brought  up  in  the  South;  others,  still,  for  de 
clining  to  sanction  the  wrongs  and  outrages  committed 
upon  defenseless  citizens,  and  helpless  women  and 
children,  and  still  others  because  they  were  ministers 
and  belonged  to  a  certain  ecclesiastical  body. 

How  far  these  various  considerations  were  only  pre 
texts  or  occasions  can  not  now  be  determined,  other  than 
by  the  analysis  of  the  state  of  society  heretofore  given 
and  the  real  animus  of  these  persecutions. 

The  following  instances  of  persecution  are  furnished, 
in  substance,  as  they  came  into  the  hands  of  the  author. 
Nothing  is  added,  and  nothing  material  to  the  facts  is 
omitted.  In  some  instances  the  phraseology  is  a  little 
changed,  more  to  secure  a  uniform  tone  and  spirit 
throughout  the  work  than  to  alter  the  sense ;  but  ma 
terial  facts  are  nowhere  sacrificed  in  the  narratives  of 
others,  even  to  the  author's  taste.  Where  it  can  be 


284  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

done,  the  language  of  each  one's  own  history  is  retained; 
but  where  only  the  facts  and  dates  have  been  furnished, 
they  are  put  up  with  the  strictest  regard  for  truth  and 
consistency.  The  reader  will  see  from  the  narratives 
themselves  that  it  is  impossible  to  observe  chronological 
order.  And,  indeed,  the  classification  of  subjects  makes 
it  necessary  to  break  the  narrative  of  individual  perse 
cutions  where  it  can  be  done,  that  each  individual  may 
illustrate  the  several  stages  of  this  remarkable  history. 
For  instance,  some  men  were  persecuted  during  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  and  then  again  under  the  appli 
cation  of  the  "test  oath"  of  the  new  Constitution. 
These,  it  is  true,  are  but  different  aspects  and  stages  of 
the  same  system  of  proscription  and  persecution,  yet 
the  nature  and  bearing  of  events  require  separate  treat 
ment  where  it  can  be  done.  The  purposes  of  history 
can  only  be  served  by  proper  classifications  and  dis 
tinctions.  The  following  narratives  of  persecution  are 
fully  authenticated  by  official  records  and  responsible 
names. 

The  trials  and  persecutions  of  ministers  of  the  gospel 
varied  somewhat  with  the  locality.  In  some  parts  of 
the  State  ministers  were  partially  exempt  from  the  in 
fluence  and  power  of  lawless  men,  while  in  other  sec 
tions  property,  liberty  and  life  were  all  at  the  mercy 
of  irresponsible  mobs. 

The  following  statement  is  furnished  by  the  minister 
himself.  He  has  long  been  a  faithful,  earnest,  exemp 
lary  member  of  the  St.  Louis  Annual  Conference,  M.  E. 
Church,  South.  Few  men  have  stood  higher  in  the 
ranks  of  the  itinerant  ministry  in  Missouri  or  done 
more  faithful  service  than 


MARTYRDOM      IN  MISSOURI.  285 

THE  REV.  JAMES  M.  PROCTOR. 

He  says:  "I  was  arrested  by  W.  Hall,  at  Draby's 
chapel,  on  Sabbath,  July  6,  1862.  Hall,  with  his  com 
pany,  reached  the  chapel  before  me,  and  had  the  t  stars 
and  stripes'  placed  just  above  the  church  door.  He 
said  thai  he  had  been  informed  that  I  would  not  preach 
tinder  the  Union  flag.  After  preaching,  and  just  as  I 
was  coming  out  at  the  door,  near  which  he  had  taken 
his  position,  he  accosted  me  and  said,  'You  are  my 
prisoner.'  He  trembled  like  an  aspen  leaf.  I  said  to 
him,  <  Why  this  emotion,  sir?  Show  yourself  a  man, 
and  do  your  duty.'  He  replied,  'I  hate  to  arrest  you, 
but  I  am  bound  to  do  my  duty.7  He  said  I  must  go 
with  him  to  his  father's  then,  and  the  following  morn 
ing  he  would  take  me  to  headquarters  at  Cape  Gir- 
ardeau.  I  could  not  well  go  with  him  that  night,  as  I 
had  been  caught  in  the  rain  that  morning,  and  had  to 
borrow  a  dry  suit  on  the  road,  which  I  was  under  obli 
gations  to  return  that  evening. 

"After  some  parley,  he  granted  me  permission  to  re 
port  at  the  Cape  in  a  few  days,  which  I  did  promptly,  to 
Col.  Ogden,  then  Provost-Marshal.  Col.  Ogden  paroled 
me  to  report  at  his  headquarters  every  two  or  three 
weeks.  On  the  29th  of  September,  1862,  I  reported  to 
him  the  fifth  and  last  time,  when  I  was  tongue-lashed 
at  a  fearful  rate  by  Lieut.-Col.  Peckham  of  the  29th  Mo. 
regiment,  and  by  him  sent  to  the  guard-house. 

"I  asked  this  irate  Colonel  if  the  front  of  my  offending 
was  not  my  connection  with  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 
He  replied,  {  Yes,  sir;  and  the  man  who  will  belong  to 
tjiat  Church,  after  she  has  done  the  way  she  has,  ought 


286  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

to  be  in  prison  during  the  war;  and  I  will  imprison  you, 
sir,  during  the  war/  'It  is  a  hard  sentence  for  such  an 
offense/  I  said.  He  replied,  'I  can't  help  it,  sir;  all 
such  men  as  you  are  must  be  confined  so  that  they  can 
do  no  harm/ 

"I  remained  in  the  guard-house  at  the  Cape  until 
Thursday,  October  2,  1862,  when — in  company  with 
thirteen  other  prisoners,  three  of  whom  died  in  a  few 
weeks — I  was  sent  to  Gratiot  street  military  prison,  St. 
Louis.  In  this  prison  I  met  several  very  worthy  minis 
ters  of  different  denominations,  and  also  Brother  J.  S. 
Boogher  and  two  of  his  brothers,  nobler  men  than  whom 
I  have  not  found  any  where  in  the  world. 

"  October  20,  1862,  I  was  released  on  parole,  there 
being  no  crime  alleged  against  me.  The  little  man  who 
first  arrested  me  was  a  Northern  Methodist.  He  wrote 
out  and  preferred  two  charges  against  me,  which  were 
so  frivolous  that  the  officers  in  St.  Louis  would  not  in 
vestigate  them.  I  furnish  them  here  as  items  of  curi 
osity,  as  follows : 

" i  1.  He,  the  said  J.  M.  Proctor,  threatened  to  hang 
Mr.  Lincoln. 

"<%.  He  said  that  the  Federal  soldiers  were  horse 
thieves.7 

"After  my  release  from  Gratiot  street  prison,  St. 
Louis,  I  went  to  the  town  of  Jackson,  where  I  was 
again  arrested  at  the  special  instigation  of  a  Northern 
Methodist  preacher  named  Liming.  I  continued  to 
preach  daring  and  after  my  imprisonment.  When  the 
notorious  test  oath  was  inaugurated  I  continued  to 
preach,  and  was  indicted  three  times  before  Judge 
Albert  Jackson,  of  Cape  Girardeau  county.  Hevs.  D.  H. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  287 

Murphy  and  A.  Munson  were  also  indicted  for  the  same 
offense. 

"I  never  took  the  test  oath,  nor  any  oath  of  allegiance 
during  the  war.  It  was  plain  to  all  that  the  Northern 
Methodists  were  our  worst  enemies  during  that  long 
and  cruel  war." 

It  is  only  necessary  to  add  that  Mr.  Proctor  remained 
at  home  when  permitted,  attending  to  his  legitimate 
calling  during  the  war  as  a  minister,  and  was  no  partisan 
in  the  strife — a  peaceable,  law-abiding  citizen,  and  an 
humble,  inoffensive  minister  of  the  gospel.  As  he  was 
informed,  "the  front  of  his  offending  was  his  connection 
with  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,"  while  it  seems  that  both 
the  instigators  and  instruments  of  his  arrest  and  im 
prisonment  were  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  North. 
Proscription  and  persecution  do  not  always  hesitate  in 
the  presence  of  opportunity. 

REV.  MARCUS  ARRINGTON. 

It  is  sad  to  record  the  following  details  of  suffering 
inflicted  upon  one  of  the  oldest,  most  useful  and  honored 
members  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference,  M.  E.  Church, 
South ;  a  man  who  for  many  years  has  been  an  humble, 
exemplary  and  influential  member  of  the  Conference, 
who  occupied  a  high  position  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Church,  and  has  been  intrusted  with  high  and  responsible 
positions  in  her  courts  and  councils.  No  man,  perhaps, 
of  any  Church  has  stood  higher  in  the  esteem  of  all  men 
of  all  Churches  in  Southwest  Missouri,  where  he  has  so 
long  lived  and  labored,  than  Marcus  Arrington.  Let 
him  tell  in  his  own  way  the  story  of  his  sufferings  : 

a  When  the  troubles  commenced,  in  the  spring  of  1861, 


288  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

I  was  traveling  the  Springfield  Circuit,  St.  Louis  Con 
ference.  I  was  very  particular  not  to  say  anything, 
either  publicly  or  privately,  that  would  indicate  that  I 
was  a  partisan  in  the  strife.  I  tried  to  attend  to  my 
legitimate  work  as  a  traveling  preacher. 

"But  after  the  war  commenced,  because  I  did  not  ad 
vocate  the  policy  of  the  party  in  power,  I  was  reported  as 
a  secessionist,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  public  excitement 
it  was  vain  to  attempt  to  counteract  the  report 

t(  At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  divers  persons,  I  took 
the  oath  of  loyalty  to  the  Government.  This,  it  was 
thought,  would  be  sufficient.  But  we  were  mistaken. 

"  Soon  after  this,  my  life  was  threatened  by  those  who 
were  in  the  employ  of  the  Federal  Government.  But 
they  were,  as  I  verily  believe,  providentially  prevented 
from  executing  their  threat, 

"After  the  battle  of  Oak  Hills,  or  Wilson's  Creek, 
July  10,  1861,  it  became  my  duty  to  do  all  I  could  for 
the  relief  of  the  sick  and  wounded,  and  because  I  did 
this  I  was  assured  that  I  had  violated  my  oath  of  allegi 
ance.  I  was  advised  by  Union  men,  so-called,  that  it 
would  be  unsafe  for  me  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Federal 
soldiers.  Believing  this  to  be  true,  when  General  Fre 
mont  came  to  Springfield,  I  went  to  Arkansas,  as  I 
think  almost  any  man  would  have  done  under  the  cir 
cumstances. 

"While  in  Arkansas,  I  met  Bro.  W.  G.  Caples,  who 
was  acting  Chaplain  to  General  Price.  He  requested 
me  to  take  a  chaplaincy  in  the  army,  informing  me  at 
the  time  that,  by  an  agreement  between  Generals  Fre 
mont  and  Price,  all  men  who  had  taken  the  oath  of 
loyalty  as  I  did  were  released  from  its  obligations. 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  289 

"In  December,  1861, 1  was  appointed  by  Gen.  McBride 
Chaplain  of  the  7th  Brigade,  Missouri  State  Guard.  In 
this  capacity  I  remained  with  the  army  until  the  battle  of 
Pea  Kidgc,  March  7  and  8,  18G2.  On  the  second  day  of 
this  battle,  while  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty  as  Chap 
lain,  I  was  taken  prisoner.  Several  Chaplains  taken  at 
the  same  time  were  released  on  the  field,  but  I  was  re 
tained.  I  was  made  to  walk  to  Springfield,  a  distance 
of  80  miles.  We  remained  in»  Springfield  one  day  and 
two  nights,  and  whilst  many  prisoners  who  had  previ 
ously  taken  the  oath  as  I  had  were  paroled  to  visit  their 
families,  I  was  denied  the  privilege. 

"  We  were  then  started  off  to  Eolla,  and  although  I 
had  been  assured  that  I  would  be  furnished  transporta 
tion,  it  was  a  sad  mistake,  and  I  had  to  walk  until  I 
literally  gave  out.  What  I  suffered  on  that  trip  I  can 
not  describe.  "When  we  reached  Holla  I  was  publicly 
insulted  by  the  Commander  of  the  Post. 

"  From  Holla  we  were  sent  to  St,  Louis  on  the  cars, 
lodged  one  night  in  the  old  McDowell  College,  and  the 
next  day  sent  to  Alton,  111. 

"Whilst  1  was  in  Alton  prison  a  correspondent  of  the 
Republican,  writing  over  the  name  of  'Leon/  repre 
sented  me  as  a  'thief  and  a  perjured  villain  !' 

"  I  was  kept  in  Alton  prison  until  Aug.  2,  1862,  when 
I  was  released  by  a  General  Order  for  the  release  of  all 
Chaplains. 

"  I  then  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  thence  South,  by  way 
of  Memphis,  Term.,  into  exile.  I  would  have  returned 
to  Missouri  after  the  war  closed  but  for  the  restrictions 
put  upon  ministers  of  the  gospel  by  the  new  Constitution. 

"  Eternity  alone  will  reveal  what  I  have  suffered  in 
19 


290  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

exile.  The  St.  Louis  Conference  is  properly  my  home, 
and  her  preachers  have  a  warm  place  in  my  affections. 
They  are  very  near  my  heart.  May  they  ever  be  suc 
cessful." 

Eev.  Mr.  Arrington  pines  for  his  old  home  and  friends, 
and  few  men  have  a  deeper  hold  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
people  in  Missouri.  Thousands  would  welcome  him  to 
warm  hearts  and  homes  after  these  calamities  are  over 
past. 

EEV.  JOHN  MCGLOTHLIN. 

As  a  specimen  of  petty  local  persecution  the  case  of 
Bev.  J.  McGlothlin,  a  worthy  local  preacher  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  who  has  long  stood  high  in  that  part 
of  the  State  where  he  resides,  will  be  sufficient  for  this 
place. 

It  was  with  some  reluctance  that  he  yielded  to  the 
demands  of  history  enough  to  furnish  the  following 
facts.  He  is  a  modest  man  and  shrinks  from  notoriety. 

In  1862  he  was  residing  in  Hay  county,  Mo.,  when 
Major  Biggers,  the  Commander  of  the  Post  at  Bichmond, 
issued  an  order  that  no  minister  of  the  gospel  should 
preach  who  did  not  carry  with  him  the  Union  flag.  A 
few  days  after  the  order  came  out  Mr.  McGlothlin  was 
called  upon  to  go  to  Knoxville,  Caldwell  county,  to  pro 
cure  suitable  burial  clothing  for  a  Mrs.  Tilford,  a  widow, 
who  died  in  his  neighborhood,  as  he  was  the  only  man 
available  for  that  service.  After  the  purchases  were 
made  and  he  was  ready  to  return,  a  Captain  Tiffin,  of 
Knoxville,  stepped  up  and  asked  if  he  had  '-'reported." 
He  answered  in  the  negative,  and  convinced  the  Captain 
that  there  was  no  order  requiring  him  to  report,  as  he 
had  license  to  preach.  The  officer  then  asked  him  if  he 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  291 

had  a  "  flag."  Ho  told  him  he  had  not.  "Will  yon  got 
one?"  "~$o,"  said  he,  "I  will  recognize  no  State  or 
military  authority  to  prescribe  qualifications  for  the 
work  of  the  ministry."  The  officer  at  once  arrested 
him.  Mr.  McGlothlin  acquainted  Capt.  Tiffin  at  once 
with  the  peculiar  character  of  his  business  in  Knoxville, 
and  the  necessity  of  his  speedy  return,  offering  at  the 
game  time  his  parole  of  honor  to  report  to  him  at  any 
time  and  place  he  might  designate.  This  he  promptly 
refused,  and  the  officer  said  that  he  would  ride  out  a 
part  of  the  way  with  him.  When  they  arrived  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  house  where  the  dead  lay  waiting 
interment,  the  officer  pressed  a  boy  into  service  and  sent 
the  burial  clothes  to  their  destination,  after  detaining 
them  three  or  four  hours  on  the  way. 

The  minister  was  not  released,  even  to  attend  the 
funeral  service,  but  was  kept  in  close  confinement,  din- 
nerless,  supperless,  bedless  and  comfortless. 

The  next  day,  with  over  twenty  others,  he  was  taken 
to  Richmond  and  confined  in  the  Fair  Grounds  and  in 
the  old  College  building  for  five  weeks,  and  then  un 
conditionally  released.  The  only  charge  they  could 
bring  against  him  was  that  he  would  not  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance,  give  bond  in  the  sum  of  $1,000  for  his 
good  behavior,  and  buy  a  flag  to  carry  about  with  him 
as  an  evidence  of  his  loyalty  and  a  symbol  of  authority 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 

Few  instances.of  petty  persecution  in  the  exercise  of 
a  little  brief  authority  can  surpass  this.  It  needs  no 
comment,  except  to  add  that  the  minister  who  was  thus 
made  a  victim  of  the  narrowest  and  "meanest  spitefulness 
was  a  high-toned  gentleman  of  unblemished  character, 


292  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

against  whom  even  the  petty  military  officers  and  their 
spies  could  never  raise  an  accusation. 

EEV.  JAMES  PENN. 

This  venerable  minister  and  member  of  the  Missouri 
Annual  Conference;  M.  E.  Church,  South,  was  the  sub 
ject  of  a  peculiar  class  of  trials  during  the  war.  Mr, 
Perm  is  one  of  the  oldest  and  one  of  the  best  men  in 
the  itinerant  ministry  in  Missouri. 

He  has  furnished  to  the  ministry  four  sons,  all  of 
whom  are  worthy  and  useful  men.  While  the  father 
has  given  his  life  and  his  children  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  it  is  peculiarly  gratifying  to  the  Church  and 
their  co-laborers  of  the  Missouri  Conference  that,  up  to 
this  time,  no  moral  taint  has  ever  rested  upon  a  single 
member  of  the  family. 

So  long  known  and  so  highly  esteemed  by  the  people 
of  the  State  generally,  it  was  hoped — vainly  hoped— 
that  at  least  he  would  escape  the  fiery  ordeal.  No  one 
at  all  acquainted  with  his  spirit  and  character  can 
ever  believe  aught  against  him  of  harm  to  any  human 
government  or  human  being.  During  a  long,  eventful 
life  he  has  been  a  man  eminently  pure  in  spirit,  and 
singularly  devoted  to  his  one  work.  In  that  work  he 
has  had  no  divided  heart,  or  head,  or  life. 

His  sons  follow  in  his  footsteps — worthy  sons  of  an 
honored  sire — and  as  such  it  is  not  altogether  an  un 
meaning  pun  which  has  so  generally  designated  them 
"Gold  Penns." 

But  it  is  still  true  that  "they  that  would  live  godly 
in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution."  It  would  be 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  293 

wrong  not  to  let  this  honored  servant  of  God  tell  his 
own  story. 

"First.  I  was  arrested  in  August,  1862,  and  carried 
to  Keokuk,  Iowa,  and  there  detained  for  about  a  week. 
There  being  no  well  founded  charges  against  me  I  was 
released. 

"  Second.  In  August,  1863,  I  held  a  meeting  in 
Williamstown,  Mo.  There  was  present  at  that  meeting 
a  minister  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  whose  name  I  believe 
wras  Moody.  On  Sunday  morning,  during  prayer  meet 
ing,  this  man,  while  we  were  kneeling  in  prayer,  arose 
and  began  to  read  in  a  very  loud  tone  of  voice.  The 
people  got  off  their  knees.  The  man  who  had  thus  dis 
turbed  an  unoffending  company  of  praying  men  and 
women  was  armed,  as  were  some  fifteen  others  whom 
he  had  brought  with  him.  I  walked  toward  the  door 
and  the  people  followed  me  and  took  a  position  in  the 
street.  I  then  preached  to  a  large  concourse  of  people, 
the  armed  minister  and  his  valiant  company  retaining 
possession  of  the  house.  I  continued  the  meeting  until 
the  next  Sabbath,  when  this  preacher  with  his  armed 
band  came  again  and  drove  us  out  of  the  house  the 
second  time.  I  preached  out  of  doors,  as  on  the  preced 
ing  Sabbath.  The  meeting  resulted  in  much  good,  there 
being  about  forty  accessions  to  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South. 

"  On  another  occasion  flags  were  brought  and  placed 
on  and  around  the  pulpit,  and  a  company  of  armed  men 
sat  near  to  prevent  any  one  from  taking  them  down. 
Seeing  that  this  would  not  deter  us  from  a  discharge  of 
Christian  duty,  a  lot  of  wicked  women  raised  a  fight 
and  fought  like  savages,  so  we  were  compelled  to  leave 


294  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

the  house  and  ceased  to  preach  at  that  place.  Moody 
was  asked  why  he  did  so,  and  his  reply  was  :  "  Because 
I  can."  He  is  now,  I  believe,  a  minister  in  good  stand 
ing  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  but  many  responsible  people 
regard  him  as  a  very  bad  man. 

"At  Winchester,  Mo.,  we  had  a  very  good  house  of 
worship,  but  they  ran  us  out,  as  they  did  at  Williams- 
town,  until  our  own  people  were  unwilling  to  attend 
divine  service  in  the  town.  Then  the  house  was  almost 
destroyed,  so  that  there  we  had  no  place  in  which  to 
worship. 

"  They  seized  our  house  at  Lagrange,  a  Mr.  Stewart 
and  others  of  the  M.  E.  Church  being  the  chief  actors 
in  this  matter.  After  three  years  they  relinquished 
their  hold  upon  this  splendid  house. 

"In  addition  to  all  this,  I  have  suffered  personal 
wrongs,  in  various  ways,  at  the  hands  of  these  people. 
But  I  have  tried  to  keep  a  conscience  void  of  offense  to 
ward  G-od  and  men.  Their  wrong-doing  is  upon  them 
selves.  I  leave  them  to  be  judged  by  him  who  is  too 
wise  to  err  and  too  good  to  do  wrong.  May  he  forgive 
the  wrong  done/' 

This  simple  narrative  speaks  volumes,  and  needs 
neither  note  nor  comment.  The  Rev.  Colonel  Moody, 
who  figured  so  conspicuously  in  the  persecutions  above 
detailed,  it  is  said,  read  on  the  occasion  of  the  first  dis 
turbance  of  Mr.  Penn's  prayer  meeting  from  Gal.  iii.  1 : 
"  O  foolish  Galatians,  who  hath  bewitched  you,  that  ye 
should  not  obey  the  truth'?"  &c. 

It  is  a  singular  fact  that  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  North,  were  conspicuous  from  first  to  last  in 
the  persecutions  of  the  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  295 

South  ;  and,  indeed,  all  other  ministers  who  were  under 
the  ban  of  the  Federal  authorities.  There  was  not  only 
a  bold  scheme  devised  by  Bishops  Simpson  and  Ames  to 
possess  themselves  of  the  property  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  through  military  authority,  as  the  rightful  booty 
of  Northern  Methodist  conquest,  but  every  minister 
and  member  who  had  position  and  power  in  the  army, 
or  who  could  evoke  the  military  power,  seemed  to  con 
sider  themselves  specially  commissioned  to  seize  the 
property  and  exterminate  the  very  existence  of  Southern 
Methodism. 


296  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

REVS.  W.  CLEAVELAND  AND  JESSE  BIRD. 

Ministers  of  other  Churches  in  the  Fellowship  of  Suffering  and  on  the 
Rolls  of  Martyrdom — Rev.  Wm.  Cleaveland  Arrested" for  Preach 
ing  in  a  Rebel  Camp — Imprisoned  and  Insulted — Made  to  Pray  for 
Mr.  Lincoln  on  a  Loyal  Cannon — Rev.  Captain  Cox,  a  Northern 
Methodist  Preacher,  his  Persecutor— Other  Indignities — Indicted. 
Arrested  and  Arraigned  as  a  Common  Felon  for  Preaching  without 
taking  the  ''Test  Oath" — Rev.  Jesse  Bird  Arrested,  Silenced  and 
Banished — Losses,  Exposure  and  Hardships  of  his  Family — Re 
turns — Arrested  and  put  in  Jail  for  Preaching  without  taking  the 
"Test  Oath"— Public  Indignation— The  Most  Virulent  Persecu 
tors  [Subsequently  Elevated  to  the  Highest  Civil  Offices. 

The  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  were  not 
the  only  sufferers.  Persecution  may  sometimes  be  ex 
clusive  and  exceptional,  but  oftoner  it  is  indiscriminate. 
The  class  of  persons  marked,  or  "spotted,"  for  proscrip 
tion  and  persecution  was  not  confined  to  any  one 
Church.  Religious  creeds  were  not  so  much  involved 
as  sectarian  domination  and  sectional  hatred.  To  ex 
terminate,  or  expel  from  the  State,  that  class  of  men 
who  had  not  received  their  tone  and  type  from  New 
England,  or  had  not  fallen  in  heartily  with  the  loyal 
religion  and  the  religious  loyalty,  seemed  to  be  a  settled 
purpose. 

It  will  be  conceded  that  the  ministers  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  South,  were  the  greater  sufferers,  for  reasons 
heretofore  given;  but  to  deny  others  who  sacrificed  and 
suffered  nobly  in  the  same  cause  a  conspicuous  place  in 
the  history  of  these  stirring  times  would  be  both  un- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  297 

generous  and  unjust.  Many  of  the  noblest  martyrs  of 
this  period  were  connected  with  other  Churches,  and 
heroically  and  grandly  sustained  the  moral  heroism  of 
the  Missouri  ministry.  Common  sufferings  have  sancti 
fied  the  common  fellowship  and  softened  the  asperities 
of  sectarian  feeling.  It  has  measurably  fused  the  re 
ligious  heart  and  diffused  the  religious  charity.  Such 
men  as  Cleaveland,  Duval,  MePheeters,  Wollard  and 
others,  are  welcomed  to  the  fellowship  of  suffering  and 
the  rolls  of  martyrdom. 

The  following  statement  is  inserted  as  written.  The 
language  might  be  softened  and  the  spirit  toned  down 
to  advantage,  but  a  prohibition  only  secures  the  facts ; 
they  can  not  be  left  out. 

CASE   OF   THE   KEY.   WM.    CLEAVELAND,  A   MISSIONARY 
BAPTIST, 

"I  write  as  a  witness  for  God  and  his  Church,  with 
out  fee  or  reward,  to  vindicate  truth  and  to  furnish  a 
correct  history  of  facts  concerning  myself  and  my  acts 
which  can  neither  be  denied  nor  gainsaid. 

"  '  Nothing  shall  I  extenuate, 

IS"or   aught  set  down  in  malice.' 

"I  am  a  minister  of  the  gospel  of  the  Missionary  Bap 
tist  order,  and  pastor  of  the  churches  at  Emerson,  in 
Marion  county,  and  Monticello  and  Mount  Gilead,  in 
Lewis  county,  Missouri;  and  nearly  sixty  years  of  age. 
In  1862,  whilst  attending  as  a  member  of  an  Association 

of  the  Baptist  churches  of ,  Col.  Martin  A.  Green, 

commanding  a  detachment  of  Missouri  troops  in  sympa 
thy  with  the  Southern  cause,  encamped  a  mile  or  two 
off,  and  despatched  a  messenger  requesting  the  Associa- 


298  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

tion  to  appoint  a  minister  to  hold  religious  services  and 
preach  to  his  regiment  on  the  Sabbath  day.  I  was  as 
signed  to  this  duty  by  the  Association,  and  performed 
it  to  the  best  of  my  humble  ability.  Perfect  order  pre 
vailed,  much  feeling  was  exhibited,  and  I  received 
compliments  and  other  expressions  of  gratitude  above 
measure. 

"  Keturmng  to  my  home  from  the  Association,  after 
its  close,  I  was  arrested  in  the  presence  of  my  family 
by  an  armed  force  commanded  by  an  officer  in  Federal 
uniform,  marched  off  hurriedly  to  ( headquarters'  in  the 
city  of  Hannibal,  and  there  confined  a  close  prisoner  in 
a  filthy,  cheerless  hovel  denominated  a  '  guard-house/ 
without  fire  to  warm  me,  a  bed  to  lie  upon,  or  food  to 
sustain  nature,  until  my  masters  chose  to  permit  my 
friends  to  furnish  me  supplies.  Repeated  efforts  were 
made  by  my  relations,  brethren  of  the  Church  and 
others,  to  communicate  with  me  and  furnish  me  neces 
saries,  but  all  in  vain.  The  subalterns  dressed  in  uni 
form,  who,  in  the  character  of  sentinels,  haunted  me  like 
spectres,  appeared  much  gratified  to  have  jurisdiction 
around,  and  haughtily  domineered,  ridiculed,  sneered 
and  blustered  as  if  to  torture  me  into  submission  and 
humble  me  as  in  the  dust.  Meantime  I  put  my  trust  in 
G-od,  and  continued  'instant  in  prayer.'  Somehow  I 
felt  an  extraordinary  assurance  that  He  whose  right 
arm  brought  deliverance  to  Daniel,  and  to  Paul  and 
Silas,  would  rescue  me  from  the  snare  of  the  enemy. 
About  nine  o'clock  on  the  succeeding  Monday  morning 
a  Northern  Methodist  preacher  calling  himself  'Captain 
Cox/  with  a  squad  of  armed  men,  entered  my  miserable 
and  filthy  prison,  and,  with  an  air  of  much  authority, 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  299 

commanded  mo  to  inarch  forthwith  into  the  presence  of 
Col.  David  Moore,  who  demanded  that  I  immediately 
appear  before  him  as  commander  of  the  garrison. 

"  Glad  of  any  change  in  my  gloomy  situation,  I  arose 
and  started,  closely  followed  by  my  reverend  perse 
cutor,  'Captain  Cox/  and  his  insolent  myrmidons,  until 
ordered  to  'halt'  in  front  of  the  quarters  of  the  com 
manding  officer.  Being  ushered  in,  I  found  Colonel 
Moore  surrounded  by  an  ill-mannered,  ruffian-like  multi 
tude,  who  stared  and  sneered  as  if  I  were  a  curiosity  on 
exhibition.  The  salutation  of  the  commander  was, 
'Are  you  a  robe]?'  I  answered  that  I  had  rebelled 
against  the  empire  of  Satan  many  years  before  and  in 
tended  to  continue  in  that  warfare  while  life  should  last. 
1  The  hell  and  damnation  you  have  !'  exclaimed  the  gen 
tlemanly  commander,  in  a  loud  tone  of  voice.  I  then 
said,  '  I  am  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  sir,  and  it  is  my 
business  to  make  war  against  the  kingdom  of  Satan. 
This,  and  this  alone,  is  my  occupation  and  my  daily 
employment,  and  this  alone  I  expect  to  do/  'Are  you 
a  Southern  man  T  asked  he.  'I  was  born  in  the  South, 
raised  and  educated  there,  and  my  sympathies  irresistibly 
lead  me  in  that  direction.  Custom,  tradition,  my  con 
struction  of  the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  ancient  and 

O 

modern  history  convinced  me  and  established  my  belief 
to  the  effect  that  the  institutions  of  the  South  were 
morally,  socially,  politically  and  religiously  right,  and  I 
could  not  conscientiously  say  that  I  was  not  a  Southern 
man/  '  Other  men  control  their  sympathies/  said  he, 
c  why  can  you  not  do  the  same  and  harmonize  with  the 
North  as  well  as  the  South  V  I  frankly  replied  that  I 
would  not  believe  the  man  that  would  tell  me  so.  Habit 


300  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

and  education  made  a  man's  opinions,  and  the  convic 
tions  of  a  lifetime  of  three  score  years  could  not  be 
changed  in  an  hour.  'How  do  you  like  old  Abe?'  said 
he.  'In  some  respects  well  enough;  in  others  not  so 
well.  On  the  whole,  I  don't  indorse  him  as  a  President.' 
'The  hell  you  don't!'  said  he,  whilst  his  surrounding 
admirers  screamed  with  laughter.  'Did  you  pray  for 
them  rebels?'  said  he.  (  Yes,  sir.'  'Did  you  preach  to 
them?'  'Yes,  sir.'  'How  long  were  you  in  Green's 
camp  ?'  <  Two  or  three  hours,  perhaps.'  '  Why  did  you 
go  there  and  pray  and  preach  to  them  damned  rebels?' 
said  he.  '  Colonel  Green  sent  a  request  to  our  Associa 
tion,  then  in  session  near  his  camping  ground,  for  a  min 
ister  to  be  sent  to  preach  to  his  men  on  the  Sabbath  day, 
and  the  Association  deputized  me  to  the  task,  all  of 
which  facts  would  appear  in  our  published  proceedings.' 
'Damned  glad  you  were  to  go,  no  doubt;  and  since  you 
love  praying  for  rebels  so  well,  I  will  make  you  do  a 
little  loyal  praying/  'As  to  loyal  or  disloyal  praying,  I 
have  no  knowledge,  but  being  commanded  to  pray  for 
all  men  I  endeavor  to  do  so  everywhere,  lifting  up  holy 
hands  without  wrath  and  doubting.'  I  then  demanded 
to  know  why  I  was  there  a  prisoner;  what  was  my  of 
fense,  and  who  was  my  accuser.  He  answered  in  a  vio 
lent  and  spiteful  manner,  that  'for  preaching  and  pray 
ing  for  rebels  in  a  rebel  camp  he  had  ordered  my  arrest, 
and  that  as  a  punishment  for  treason  I  should  remain 
in  the  guard  house  a  prisoner,  on  coarse  faro,  for  nine 
days,  and  should  offer  each  day  a  public  prayer  for  Old 
Abe.'  Having  grown  impatient  at  the  abuse  and  insults 
of  which  I  had  been  the  subject  so  long,  I  replied  :  '  Col. 
Moore,  I  am  told  you  have  a  praying  wife ;  and  I  thank 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  301 

God  this  day  that  I  am  counted  worthy  to  bo  pun 
ished  for  preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  pray 
ing  for  sinners.  Sir,  I  esteem  it  a  privilege  and  an 
honor,  and  shall  not  only  pray,  as  my  penance  requires, 
for  Olr.  Lincoln/  but  shall  pray  with  all  my  heart  for 
all  other  sinners,  especially  such  as  arc  associated  in 
authority  with  him.'  Springing  suddenly  to  his  feet, 
Hake  him/  said  he,  and  with  much  coarse  abuse  added, 
'  convey  him  under  guard  back  to  the  guard  house,  im 
prison  him,  give  him  prisoner's  rations,  keep  sentinels 
around  him  ;  and  Captain  Cox,  I  shall  look  to  you  to  see 
this  order  executed.'  Hurried  back  to  the  stench  and 
filth  of  my  prison  house,  accompanied  by  my  armed  guard, 
I  remained  until  the  next  morning,  when  I  was  sum 
moned  to  march  out,  and  followed  by  several  armed  men 
with  fixed  bayonets  and  was  conducted  to  a  spot  where 
the  cannon  were  stationed.  The  regiment  had  been 
drawn  up  and  formed  into  an  irregular  hollow  square, 
in  mockery.  Many  of  the  officers  slunk  away,  while 
others  stood  and  incited  the  men  to  giggle  and  perform 
antics  to  make  the  scene  ludicrous  and  mortifying.  As 
my  divine  Master,  like  a  lamb  before  its  shearers,  was 
dumb,  so  I  opened  not  my  mouth.  In  an  exultant  and 
authoritative  manner,  the  Rev.  Capt.  Cox,  my  loving 
Christian  brother,  a  preacher  of  the  Northern  Methodist 
Church,  as  before  stated,  commanded  me  to  'mount  that 
cannon  and  offer  prayer  for  Mr.  Lincoln,  in  obedience 
to  orders,  as  a  penance  for  praying  in  a  rebel  camp/ 

"  Being  an  old  man,  and  weighing  between  two  and 
three  hundred  pounds ;  having  had  scarcely  an  hour's 
rest  for  several  days  and  nights  j  having  had  no  change 
of  clothing  and  no  privilege  of  ablutions  of  any  kind,  I 


802  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

felt  very  badly,  and  with  difficulty  climbed  to  the  top 
of  the  cannon-carriage,  and  there  lifted  up  my  heart  and 
hands  and  voice  to  Jehovah  in  humble,  fervent  prayer. 
I  felt  greatly  lifted  up,  much  revived  and  encouraged, 
and  my  faith  seemed  as  it  were  to  grasp  the  very  horns 
of  the  altar.  The  glory  of  the  Lord  shone  forth,  the 
Shekinah  appeared  to  come  down  and  rest  upon  the 
camp,  and  fear  came  upon  the  men.  The  pious  rejoiced, 
the  wicked  were  ashamed,  and  astonishment  pervaded 
the  scene.  At  the  conclusion  of  my  prayer,  still  stand 
ing  in  the  ridiculous  attitude  I  was  made  to  occupy  upon 
the  cannon,  I  opened  my  eyes  and  looking  around  upon 
what  had  been  my  fun-making  and  pleasure-seeking 
audience  of  soldiers  and  citizens,  I  discovered  many 
weeping,  others  hurrying  away  in  disorder,  and  even  the 
blasphemous  Colonel  Moore  was  said  to  have  shed  tears. 
Knowing  I  had  committed  no  offense  against  the  lawr 
of  God  or  man,  and  that  my  blessed  Master  had  been 
stoned,  spit  upon,  whipped  with  cords,  dressed  in  mock 
royalty,  crowned  with  thorns  and  driven  through  the 
public  streets  in  derision  for  the  sport  of  the  mob,  I 
took  courage  and  hoped  for  the  best,  t  If  they  did  those 
things  in  the  green  tree,  what  might  they  riot  do  in  the 
dry?'  The  weapons  of  my  warfare  were  not  carnal. 
Yet  these  wicked  men,  actuated  by  the  same  malignant 
spirit  which  prompted  their  prototypes  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  the  Son  of  God,  seized  me,  an  humble  and 
obscure  preacher  of  righteousness,  guilty  of  no  offense, 
and  to  gratify  their  malignity,  dragged  me  around, 
followed  by  soldiers  with  muskets  and  bayonets,  ex 
posed  me  to  ridicule  and  attempted  to  force  me  to  make 
a  mockery  of  religion,  and  thus  (as  they  hoped)  bring 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  303 

the  Church  into  dishonor  and  disgrace.     'But  the  ways 
of  the  Lord  are  marvelous  in  our  eyes/  for 

"  'Deep  in  unfathomable  mines 

Of  never  failing  skill, 
He  treasures  up  his  bright  designs 
And  works  his  sovereign  will.' 

"Hastened  from  this  scene  by  the  peremptory  order 
of  my  Rev.  Brother,  Capt.  Cox,  I  was  conducted  by  an 
armed  guard  back  to  the  filth  and  stench  of  the  guard 
house,  and  there  remained,  each  day  going  through  the 
same  blasphemous  exhibition,  except  that  I  was  allowed 
to  stand  on  the  ground  instead  of  the  cannon  to  offer  up 
my  prayer.  Many  of  the  soldiers  professed  repentance, 
and  whilst  stationed  as  sentinels  around  me  tendered 
me  their  sympathies,  extended  many  kindnesses,  and 
pledged  me  that,  dying  in  battle,  or  when  or  where 
they  might,  they  would  try  to  meet  me  in  heaven. 
Yerily  and  of  a  truth  'the  Lord  maketh  the  wrath  of 
man  to  praise  him.' 

"  Shortly  after  these  events  Col.  Moore  and  his  com 
mand  were  ordered  South,  where  they  participated  in 
the  battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  as  it  is  some 
times  called.  The  regiment  was  cut  to  pieces,  Colonel 
Moore  lost  a  leg  by  a  shot  from  a  cannon,  and  his  Major, 
Barnabas  King,  to  whose  instigation  my  friends  at 
tributed  much  of  my  suffering,  was  killed.  The  Rev. 
'Captain  Cox'  seems  to  have  kept  out  of  harm's  way 
on  that  fearful  day,  for — now  that  our  homes  are  made 
a  ruin,  our  land  shrouded  in  mourning,  and  our  dwell 
ings  sad  and  sorrowful  on  account  of  the  absence  of  the 
loved  ones  who  were  cruelly  murdered  in  the  presence 
and  amid  the  cries  and  shrieks  of  wives,  mothers  and 


304  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

babes,  as  well  as  the  brave  who  fell  in  battle — he1  comes 
again.  Not  bedecked  with  the  tinsel  and  trappings  of 
authority,  to  shut  up  old  gray-headed  men  in  loathsome 
prisons,  march  them  around  surrounded  by  bayonets, 
and  force  them  to  mount  cannons  and  pray  for  the 
amusement  and  sport  of  the  soldiery  and  the  mob  for 
preaching  the  gospel  to  sinners.  Lo !  he  comes  again 
in  the  lowly  habiliments  of  Christianity,  commissioned 
by  the  Bishops  of  the  Northern  Methodist  Church,  as 
an  accredited  minister  of  that  Church,  to  teach  religion 
and  preach  the  gospel  amongst  us,  for  which  purpose 
the  Rev.  'Captain'  is  now  perambulating  Marion  and 
adjoining  counties.  'Yengeance  is  mine,  I  will  repay, 
saith  the  Lord.' 

"One  would  suppose  that  malignity  had  exhausted  it 
self  in  the  deeds  of  the  foregoing  recital.  Not  so. 
While  on  business  in  Hannibal  one  day,  after  the  fore 
going  had  occurred,  word  came  that  Col.  McDaniel  and 
his  battalion  of  the  advance  guard  of  the  Confederate 
army  under  General  Price  was  marching  in  that  direc 
tion  ;  and,  having  left  my  wife  and  daughter  at  home 
alone,  I  called  upon  Col.  H.  T.  K.  Hayward,  then  in 
command  of  the  post,  for  a  permit  to  pass  out  of  the 
city  and  go  to  my  family,  who  would  necessarily  be 
much  alarmed,  and  explained  my  situation.  Being  a 
member  of  the  Church,  a  Presbyterian  elder,  I  expected, 
of  course,  Christianlike  courtesy.  But,  to  my  surprise, 
I  was  insolently  repelled,  vindictively  insulted,  and 
peremptorily  ordered  to  remain  where  I  was.  Stung 
with  disappointment  and  burning  with  indignation,  I 
submitted  as  patiently  as  I  could,  and  implored  com 
miseration  in  the  name  of  my  unprotected  family. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  305 

Eemorsclcss  as  a  bloodhound  and  pitiless  as  a  hyena,  ho 
was  inexorable,  and  forced  me  to  remain  until  McDaniel 
retired  and  his  scare  subsided.  At  the  solicitation  of 
leading  citizens,  he  then  granted  me  a  permit  to  go,  but 
accompanied  the  paper  with  a  gruff  intimation  that  the 
issues  of  life  and  death  were  in  his  grasp,  and  by  the 
nod  of  his  head  he  <  could  have  me  shot.'  Perhaps  this 
violence  of  feeling  may  have  resulted  from  the  fact  that 
the  brave  Colonel  Hayward  had,  at  a  recent  period, 
been  captured  by  a  Confederate  officer,  relieved  of  his 
watch,  his  spurs,  his  purse,  his  pistols,  sword,  epaulets, 
horse  and  equipments,  and  paroled  on  his  oath  and 
pledge  of  honor,  both  of  which  he  had  violated,  and  was 
again  in  arms  wreaking  vengeance  on  unarmed  and  in 
nocent  persons.  I  make  no  mention  of  the  particulars 
of  the  murder  of  a  friendless  stranger,  laboring  under 
delirium  tremens,  who  had  just  landed  from  a  steamer, 
and  was  by  his  order  shot  to  death  upon  the  wharf  at 
the  city  of  Hannibal. 

"Circumstances  indicated  that  my  life  and  my  pro 
perty  were  eager  objects  of  the  pursuit  of  this  class  of 
men.  By  day  or  by  night,  at  all  hours,  and  in  different 
ways,  my  family  were  often  disturbed  and  interrupted 
by  them.  My  wife  and  daughter  were  made  to  perform 
menial  service  for  any  number  who  chose  to  demand 
it;  whilst  the  filthy  vagabonds,  in  the  uniform  of  Fed 
eral  soldiers,  would  ransack  the  premises  and  deface, 
destroy  and  steal  anything  of  value  they  could  find  in 
the  house  or  out  of  it.  One  night  myself  and  family 
were  aroused  about  twelve  o'clock  by  the  heavy  tread 
of  swift-moving  horses,  and  a  loud  yell  at  the  door  in 
formed  us  that  soldiers — two  of  whom,  calling  themselves 
20 


306  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

'  Tabor  and  "Watson,  of  Capt.  John  D.  Meredith's  com 
pany  of  the  39th  Missouri  regiment/  (which  Meredith  is 
now  sheriff  of  Marion  county) — had  come  with  orders 
from  their  superiors  to  demand  my  horse  and  saddle. 
They  said  they  were  in  rapid  pursuit  of  the  noted  Con 
federate  scout,  Bill  Anderson,  and  his  command;  were 
directed  to  press  into  service  whatever  they  needed; 
must  have  my  horse,  and  intended  to  give  no  quarter 
until  the  last  officer  and  man  of  the  enemy  .were  slain. 
When  this  was  accomplished  they  should  next  turn 
their  attention  to  those  who  sympathized  with  the 
rebels,  and  would  clean  out  every  man,  woman  and 
child,  until  they  had  made  their  lands  a  desolation  and 
their  homes  a  solitude.  Intermingling  these  threats 
with  vulgar  epithets  and  bitter  denunciation,  they 
dashed  off;  and,  as  their  receding  forms  faded  away  in 
the  darkness  carrying  oft'  m}^  fine  young  horse,  my  only 
means  of  reaching  my  appointments  at  the  different 
churches  to  preach  and  perform  other  ministerial  duties, 
a  strange  and  fearful  sensation  crept  over  me,  as  if  sad 
events  lay  buried  in  the  future.  The  curtain  was  soon 
lifted.  A  few  days  brought  the  mournful  intelligence 
that  <  Johnson's  battalion  had  encountered  the  foe  and 
was  annihilated.'  On  the  plain,  and  in  full  view  of  the 
city  of  Centralia,  in  Boone  county,  the  conflict  tran 
spired,  and  of  all  the  'bloody  39th/  as  its  commander 
boastfully  called  it,  who  entered  the  field  that  day,  not 
a  platoon  of  officers,  horses  and  men  escaped  death, 
including  my  poor  horse,  which,  being  ridden  by  a  sub 
altern  officer,  is  said  to  have  sunk  clown  with  his  rider 
in  the  midst  of  the  battle  to  rise  no  more. 

"In  the  order  of  divine  providence  friends  came  to  my 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  307 

relief,  and  I  was  enabled,  with  some  difficulty,  to  pursue 
my  work,  although  much  harassed,  sorely  vexed  and 
often  cast  down  by  fears  without  and  cares  within,  for 
my  life  was  often  threatened. 

"  In  common  with  other  brethren  who  feared  God 
rather  than  Caesar,  I  was  in  due  time  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury  of  Marion  county  for  preaching  the  gospel 
to  lost  sinners  without  first  committing  perjury  by  tak 
ing  a  false  oath.  Arraigned  as  a  felon  on  my  blessed 
Lord's  account,  I  felt  honored,  for  the  servant  is  not 
above  his  master.  I  stood  at  the  bar  of  justice,  as  he 
stood  before  Pontius  Pilate ;  and,  although  surrounded 
by  murderers,  burglars,  horse-thieves  and  others  of  the 
baser  sort,  I  there  remained,  attending  their  calls  from 
court  to  court,  until  for  very  shame  the  disgraceful  and 
blasphemous  scene  was  closed  by  the  prosecuting  law 
yer,  Walter  M.  Boulware,  Esq.,  dismissing  the  suit;  and 
the  Hon.  "William  P.  Harrison,  now  acting  as  Judge  of 
the  Court,  discharged  me  and  released  my  securities, 
who  had  entered  into  bond  for  a  large  amount  to  keep 
me  out  of  jail.  Glory  be  to  God!  I  am  still  alive  ;  and, 
unless  sooner  taken  hence,  I  feel  that  there  are  still 
some  years  of  service  in  me,  which  shall  be  given  with 
a  willing  heart  to  that  cause  for  which  I  have  suffered, 
and  am  still  willing,  if  need  be,  to  suffer  on. 

"  '  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way, 

His  wonders  to  perform ; 
He  plants  his  footsteps  in  the  sea, 
And  rides  upon  the  storm.' 

"  WILLIAM  CLEAVELAND. 

"Marion  County,  Mo.,  May  3,  1869." 

The   Bev.  Mr.  Cleaveland  has  for  many  years  stood 


308  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

high  in  the  part  of  Missouri  where  he  resides,  as  an 
orderly,  quiet,  earnest  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  now 
looks  back  on  the  scene  of  his  persecutions  with  feel 
ings  that  he  can  scarcely  control.  His  only  offense-— 
that  he  preached  in  a  camp  of  rebel  soldiers  in  obedience 
to  the  authority  of  the  Association;  and  for  this  he  was 
not  only  arrested  and  imprisoned,  but  grossly  insulted 
and  rudely  maligned  by  the  permission  and  authority 
of  one  who  styled  himself  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  But 

he  told  his  own  story,  and  it  is  better  without  note  or 
comment. 

EEV.  JESSE  BIRD. 

This  able  and  useful  minister  of  the  gospel  has  long 
been  a  member  of  the  Missouri  Annual  Conference,  M. 
E.  Church,  South.  Few  men  have  stood  higher  in  the 

'  O 

estimation  of  his  brethren  in  the  ministry  or  the  com 
munities  where  his  labors  have  been  bestowed.  The 
positions  filled  by  him  in  the  pastoral,  educational  and 
judicial  departments  of  the  Church  for  many  years,  and 
the  ability  and  fidelity  with  which  he  met  every  responsi 
bility,  attest  the  confidence  of  the  Church  and  the  high 
appreciation  of  the  Conference  of  which  he  is  an  hon 
ored  member.  The  spirit  that  will  prompt  men  to  the 
exercise  of  such  petty  tyranny  as  that  detailed  in  Mr. 
Cleaveland's  case,  and  now  to  be  narrated  by  Mr.  Bird, 
must  be  the  spirit  of  Antichrist.  Neither  of  the  gen 
tlemen  was  guilty  of  any  civil,  political,  military  or 
moral  offense.  But  hear  him  : 

"Dear  Brother — I  see  in  -  the  Advocate  a  notice  re 
questing  persons  to  give  information  of  the  persecutions 
of  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  Missouri.  I  send  you  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  309 

following  very  concise  statement  of  facts  in  my  own 
case. 

"  In  the  fall  of  1861  I  was  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  Missouri  Conference  to  the  St.  Joseph  District. 
On  my  first  round  I  went  to  my  Quarterly  Meeting  for 
Eockport  Circuit,  at  Spencer's  Chapel,  in  Atchison 
county.  Arriving  at  the  chapel  at  11  o'clock  Xov.  9,  I 
found  a  pole  had  been  raised  by  the  door  with  a  rope 
fastened  to  it  for  the  purpose  of  hoisting  a  flag.  There 
was  no  one  present.  I  waited  a  little  and  saw  two  men 
approaching.  They  informed  me  that  a  burial  was 
going  on  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  preaching  was 
postponed  till  3  o'clock. 

"  In  the  evening  I  returned  to  the  church  in  company 
with  a  few  persons.  As  we  approached  the  house  I  saw 
two  men  hoisting  a  flag  in  great  haste.  Fastening  the 
rope  as  quickly  as  possible,  they  ran  and  hid  themselves 
inside  a  field.  Coming  up  to  the  house  and  seeing  what 
had  been  done,  I  declined  going  in,  stating  that  I  would 
preach  under  no  political  flag;  that  I  should  not  mix 
my  religion  with  politics.  I  was  invited  to  preach  at  a 
private  house  and  did  so.  I  was  not  interrupted  again 
until  on  my  second  round. 

"On  the  6th  of  Feb.,  1862,  I  commenced  a  Quarterly 
Meeting  at  Oregon,  Holt  county.  The  meeting  went 
on  quietly  and  prosperously  until  Monday  morning, 
when  the  flag  was  hoisted  over  the  door  of  the  church. 
I  again  declined  going  in  for  the  same  reasons.  In  the 
course  of  two  or  three  hours  I  was  arrested,  cursed  and 
abused  in  various  ways  and  threatened  by  some  men 
who  styled  themselves  solders.  I  was  then  sent  in 
charge  of  two  young  men  to  Forest  City  and  requested 


310  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

to  'take  the  oath/  which  I  also  declined.  But  in  order- 
to  get  off  arid  out  of  the  hands  of  the  law,  I  agreed  to 
go  before  a  magistrate  and  take  a  civil  oath  to  observe 
the  Constitution  and  laws.  From  Oregon  I  returned 
home  and  found  a  notice  in  my  postoffice  at  Rochester 
from  Ben.  Loan,  the  commander  at  St.  Joseph,  requiring 
me  to  appear  before  him  immediately.  I  went  down 
and  inquired  for  what  purpose  he  had  sent  for  me,  when 
he  replied:  'You  are  not  to  preach  anymore  in  this 
district/  'Is  this  all  ?'  I  inquired.  'You  must  go  and 
take  the  oath/  he  replied.  I  informed  him  that  I  should 
not  take  the  oath ;  that  he  could  put  me  in  prison  or 
banish  me  from  the  State,  as  he  had  done  others.  He 
immediately  made  out  an  order  for  me  to  leave  the  State 
within  thirty  days.  This  was  done  in  the  city  of  St. 
Joseph,  Feb.  14,  1862.  I  was  not  restricted  to  any  par 
ticular  bounds.  The  ground  was  then  covered  with 
snow  and  ice  to  the  depth  of  six  or  eight  inches.  I  had 
no  money  to  bear  expenses,  save  about  fifty  dollars.  I 
gave  about  two  prices  for  a  wagon,  put  what  I  could  in 
it,  and  leaving  my  house  and  crop  of  corn  in  the  prairie, 
I  started  on  a  cold,  stormy  day  (the  20th  day  of  Feb., 
1862,)  with  my  wife  in  feeble  health,  to  go  I  knew  not 
whither,  and  that  for  no  other  reason  than  that  I  was  a 
Southern  Methodist  preacher  and  would  not  swear 
falsely. 

"This  move  made  it  necessary  to  sacrifice  the  grain 
and  stock  my  little  boys  had  worked  for,  together  with 
our  furniture  and  a  good  portion  of  my  library.  I  was 
accompanied  by  my  daughter  and  two  little  sons,  and 
also  by  Benjamin  Bird,  his  wife  and  two  young  children, 
We  started  South  and  traveled  four  days,  reaching  the 


MARTYRDOM      IN  MISSOURI.  311 

river  opposite  Lexington,  and  finding  the  ice  giving 
way,  and  there  being  no  boat,  we  turned  up  the  river 
to  Camden,  liny  county,  stopping  at  Brother  Menefee's, 
a  most  excellent  family,  where  we  remained  some  three 
or  four  days.  Leaving  Camden  we  went  up  the  bottom 
to  a  point  opposite  Napoleon,  in  Lafayette  county,  where 
we  remained  in  camp  two  or  three  days,  when,  the  ice 
clearing  away,  we  crossed  the  Missouri  river  and  pro 
ceeded  through  cold  and  storm  until  we  had  passed  the 
town  of  Clinton,  in  Henry  county. 

u  Here  we  met  some  men  who  told  us,  as  others  had  the 
day  before,  that  we  could  not  proceed  beyond  the  Osage. 
The  Jayhawkers  and  Home  Guards  were  robbing  all 
who  attempted  to  go  through.  We  turned  round  and 
came  back  to  Lafayette  county,  and  finding  an  empty 
house  near  Greenton,  stopped  and  spent  the  spring  and 
summer  there. 

"  In  a  few  days  I  went  down  to  Lexington,  saw  the 
commander  of  that  post  and  got  a  sound  cursing  for  my 
trouble.  Returning  to  my  family  and  finding  the  people 
of  the  neighborhood  very  kind  and  generous,  we  re 
mained  until  the  last  of  August,  when  we  returned  to 
our  home  in  Andrew  county. 

"I  will  say  nothing  of  my  trials  from  that  time  till 
the  close  of  the  war,  except  that  I  preached  but  little. 
A  part  of  this  time  I  was  nominally  the  Presiding  Elder 
of  St.  Joseph  District. 

"About  Christinas,  1865,  I  was  employed  by  the  Pre 
siding  Elder,  II.  II.  Iledgcpcth,  to  take  charge  of  the 
Savannah  Circuit.  I  commenced  my  work  immediately, 
and  continued  preaching  regularly  until  my  last  appoint 
ment  at  Savannah,  in  August,  1866.  I  had  been  threat- 


312  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ened  at  different  times  during  the  summer  by  mobs,  and 
sometimes  I  thought  it  quite  likely  I  should  be  put  to 
death  by  the  lawless  rabble,  but  I  was  left  unmolested 
until  I  was  about  to  finish  my  work  on  the  circuit.  On 
Sunday  the  people  expected  an  interruption  while  I  was 
preaching,  but  all  continued  quiet  till  night.  While  in 
the  pulpit  I  noticed  some  men  come  in  and  whisper  to 
each  other  and  go  out,  and  presently  return.  When  the 
services  closed  I  heard  a  lady  say:  'They  are  at  the 
door.'  I  quietly  walked  out  and  went  to  my  room,  no 
body  disturbing  me.  Next  morning  I  was  told  they 
were  preparing  to  arrest  me. 

"  After  I  had  adjusted  my  affairs,  about  10  o'clock,  I 
went  home.  Having  proceeded  about  two  hundred 
yards  I  saw  the  Deputy  Sheriff  coming  at  full  speed 
after  me.  Knowing  what  it  meant,  I  stopped  till  he 
came  up.  He  said  he  was  authorized  to  arrest  me.  I 
was  taken  before  a  justice  of  the  peace,  who  had  issued 
the  warrant  for  my  arrest  upon  the  affidavit  of  one  of 
the  party  that  came  into  the  church  on  Sunday  night. 
The  said  justice  inquired  if  I  pleaded  guilty  or  not  guilty 
to  the  crime  of  preaching  the  gospel  to  the  people,  in  viola 
tion  of  the  Fundamental  Law  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  I 
pleaded  guilty.  Whereupon  the  said  officer  required  me 
to  give  bond  for  my  appearance  at  the  next  session  of 
the  court,  which  I  declined;  consequently  I  was  taken 
by  the  Sheriff  of  Andrew  county  and  lodged  in  the  jail 
of  Buchanan  county,  in  the  city  of  St.  Joseph,  there  be 
ing  no  jail  in  Andrew  county.  This  was  done  the  27th 
of  August,  1866.  I  remained  in  prison  about  three 
hours,  when  the  Sheriff  of  Buchanan  county,  accompa 
nied  by  Judge  Woodson  and  others  of  St.  Joseph,  came 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  313 

and  opened  the  door  of  the  jail  and  lot  me  out.  On 
Monday  following  the  Circuit  Court  of  Buchanan  county 
came  on,  and  the  judge  declining  to  tiy  the  case  I  gave 
bond  for  my  appearance  at  the  next  term  of  the  Circuit 
Court  for  Andrew  county,  at  which  time  and  place  I  was 
indicted  for  preaching  the  gospel.  I  took  a  change  of 
venue  to  Buchanan  county,  and  before  the  sitting  of  the 
court  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  had  set  aside  the  Test  Oath,  and  that  ended  the 
matter  with  me. 

"You  can  make  what  use  of  these  statements  you 
please  in  the  forthcoming  history  of  the  persecution  in 
Missouri.  I  should  have  given  names,  but  I  have  for 
gotten  most  of  them. 

"Yours,  very  truly,  JESSE  BIRD. 

"Plattslurg,  Mo.,  Feb.  3,  1860." 

The  account  of  Mr.  Bird's  arrest  and  imprisonment, 
and  subsequent  indictment  for  preaching  the  gospel 
without  taking  the  oath  prescribed  in  the  New  Constitu 
tion,  could  not  well  be  separated  from  the  narrative  of 
bis  other  persecutions. 

The  author  was  in  St.  Joseph  when  he  was  brought 
down  from  Andrew  county  and  lodged  in  the  jail  with 
common  felons.  He  had  many  friends  in  the  community, 
and  to  see  him  through  the  heavy  iron  grates,  classed 
with  horse  thieves,  burglars,  murderers  and  other  crimi 
nals,  caused  no  little  popular  indignation.  Men  hurried 
to  and  fro  after  attorneys,  judges,  officers  and  friends, 
and  stood  on  the  corners  in  animated  conversation  until 
the  public  excitement  boded  no  peace.  The  Sheriff  of 
Buchanan  county  acted  prudently  and  wisely  in  releas 
ing  him  on  his  verbal  parole.  No  other  course  would 


314  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

have  appeased  the  public  indignation  or  allayed  the 
ever-widening  and  deepening  excitement.  ~No  threats 
of  violence  were  heard,  and  yet  the  indications  in  the 
public  mind  could  not  be  mistaken. 

Mr.  Bird  and  the  Church  will  ever  be  under  obliga 
tions  to  Hon.  Silas  Woodson,  of  St.  Joseph,  for  his 
prompt  and  efficient  attention  to  the  case.  He  made  an 
earnest  but  ineffectual  effort  to  get  the  case  before  Judge 
Heron,  then  on  the  Circuit  Court  bench,  on  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus.  But  the  Judge  was  a  little  weak-kneed 
and  did  not  wish  to  damage  his  prospects  for  a  seat  in 
the  U.  S.  Congress,  and  refused  informally  to  grant  a 
writ  or  have  anj'thing  to  do  with  the  case. 

More  will  be  said  on  this  subject  at  another  time  and 
in  another  connection. 

It  may  as  well  be  stated  here,  however,  as  a  note 
worthy  fact,  that  the  military  officers  and  others  who 
were  the  most  officious  and  efficient  in  the  persecution 
of  ministers  of  the  gospel,  during  the  war  and  since, 
have  subsequently  been  elevated  to  the  most  honorable 
and  lucrative  offices  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  While 
the  people  have  professed  the  strongest  disapprobation 
of  these  persecutions,  it  can  not  be  denied  that  for  some 
reasons  the  perpetrators  of  the  grossest  outrages  upon 
ministers  of  the  gospel  have  filled  and  are  now  filling 
the  highest  civil  offices. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  315 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

ELDERS  J.  DUVAL,  ISAAC  ODELL  AND  ALLEN    SISK. 

Elder  Jamr.s  Duval — His  Own  Statement — Endorsement — Minister 
of  the  Uomilar  Baptist  Church — Arrested  at  Midnight — Suffered 
Much — ra">>e<  a"d  Permits — Assessment  for  Military  Purposes — 
Arrest  of  KUler  G.  W.  Stout— Elder  Duval  again  Arrested— Sent 
to  Chillieothe — Charge.  Trial  and  Acquittal — Making  History — 
Re-arrested  at  New  Garden — Heavy  Bond — In  Court  for  not  Tak 
ing  the  Oath — Met  others  in  the  Same  Condemnation — Isaac  Odell 
and  Allen  Sisk  under  Indictment  with  Elder  Duval — Estebb,  the 
Prosecuting  Attorney — Dunn  &  Garver  for  the  Defense — Baptist 
Church  at'Xew  Garden— Trial  of  their  Pastor,  Elder  Isaac  Odell, 
for  not  taking  the  Oath — Acquitted-Then  Convicted — Division  of 
the  Church — Troubles — Non-Fellowship. 

ELDER  JAMES  DUVAL. 

The  following  sketch,  furnished  by  this  venerable 
servant  of  God,  will  be  read  with  thrilling  interest  by 
the  people  of  the  State  where  he  has  been  so  long  and 
so  favorably  known.  It  is  unnecessary  to  present,  for 
the  people  of  Missouri,  any  endorsement  of  his  charac 
ter,  but  for  the  benefit  of  others,  and  because  his  state 
ment,  herewith  submitted  in  his  own  style,  involves  the 
names  and  details  the  persecutions  of  others,  it  may  not 
be  out  of  place  to  insert  here  the  following  paper: 

"EiciiMOND,  EAY  Co.,  Mo.,  May  22,  1869. 

"Elder  James  Duval,  of  this  county,  is  a  minister  of 
the  gospel  of  the  regular  Baptist  Church,  and  bears  an 
unblemished  character  as  a  preacher  and  a  Christian 

gentleman. 

(Signed)  "  GEORGE  AY.  DUNN, 

"AUSTIN  A.  KING, 
"A.  W.  DONIPHAN." 


316  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

These  gentlemen  are  all  widely  known,  even  beyond 
the  State,  and  their  endorsement  is  sufficient  to  give 
force  to  every  word  of  the  following  statement.  The 
author  does  not  feel  at  liberty  to  either  divide  or  abridge 
the  document,  lest  the  peculiar  force  of  the  narrative, 
told  in  his  own  language  and  style,  should  be  marred, 
and  the  characteristics  of  the  persecution  should  be  de 
prived  of  their  richness  of  detail.  Besides,  a  variety  of 
style  is  always  pleasing  to  the  reader. 

"EiCHMOND,  EAT  Co.,  Mo.,  May,  1869. 

"KEV.  P.  M.  PINCKARD:  Dear  Sir — You  have  asked 
through  the  Advocate  for  information  concerning  the 
'persecution  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  Missouri/  and 
being  myself  one  of  the  unfortunately  proscribed  ones 
by  the  'powers  that  be/  I  thought  it  just  and  proper 
that  I  should  contribute  my  mite  of  information,  which 
I  shall  do  partly  from  memory  and  partly  from  records. 

"I  will  just  here  state  that  I  have  now  been  in  con 
stant  connection  with  the  old  regular  Baptist  Church 
more  than  forty-five  years.  I  joined  that  people  upon 
a  profession  of  faith  in  Christ,  and  was  baptized,  April 
18th,  1824,  into  the  fellowship  of  the  Gourdvine  church, 
Cuipepper  county,  Ya.,  by  Elder  James  Garnet,  who 
was  then  pastor  of  that  church.  From  Hardy  county, 
Ya.,  in  the  fall  of  1848,  I  moved  and  settled  in  Bay 
county,  near  Eichmond,  Mo.,  where  I  now  reside,  as  all 
the  old  settlers  know.  Since  then  my  acts  and  deeds, 
both  private  and  public,  as  a  citizen  and  a  minister  of 
Christ's  word,  are  before  the  public. 

"I  will  here  endeavor  to  give  a  brief  detail  of  the 
troubles  arid  perplexities  I  have  had  with  the  Federal 
authorities. 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  317 

"About  tlu*  15th  of  February,  1862,  Captain  Kelsaw, 
then  commanding  a  company  of  men  at  Knoxville,  Hay 
comity,  sent  a  squad  of  soldiers  at  twelve  o'clock  at 
night — as  cold  a  night  as  well  could  be,  heavy  snow  on 
the  ground — and  had  me  arrested  and  taken  that  night 
to  Knoxville.  These  men  also  took  from  me  a  wagon 
and  a  pair  of  mules,  and  afterward  two  good  horses; 
still  later  the  Federals  took  loads  of  corn  and  hay,  for 
which  I  have  received  no  compensation.  I  arrived  in 
Knoxville  some  time  before  day,  very  much  chilled, 
almost  frozen,  and  had  to  lie  the  rest  of  the  night  on 
the  counter  of  an  old  store-room  which  the  soldiers  oc 
cupied.  The  next  morning,  with  a  guard  at  my  heels, 
I  was  allowed  the  privilege  of  calling  on  a  friend  (Mrs. 
Mary  Stone),  when  I  was  kindly  furnished  with  my 
breakfast. 

"  I  was  then  put  in  charge  of  J.  1ST.  Henry,  who  was 
acting  in  some  military  capacity,  who  safely,  but  in  a 
rude  and  domineering  manner,  conducted  me  to  Cam- 

Z3  s 

eron,  Col.  Catherwood's  headquarters.  I  was  then  held 
there  as  a  prisoner,  as  you  will  presently  see,  for  near 
two  weeks.  It  is  true  that  I  had  the  privilege  of  board 
ing  at  the  hotel  and  paying  my  bill. 

"I  inquired  of  Colonel  Catherwood  what  were  the 
charges  against  me.  He  never  exhibited  any.  But  he 
finally  told  me  that  I  would  have  to  give  bond  to  keep 
the  peace,  or  something  to  that  effect.  He  then  allowed 
me  a  certain  number  of  days  to  return  home  and  get 
security,  which  I  did  in  the  given  time. 

"I  then  got  my  friend  and  neighbor,  Christopher 
Trigg,  who  went  with  me  to  Cameron,  and  entered  into 
bond  with  me  in  the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  to  do 


318  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

certain  things  therein  specified.    Upon  which  I  received 
the  following : 


" '  HEADQUARTERS  AT  CAMERON,  ) 


February  27th,  1862. 
"  <  This  is  to  certify  that  James  Duval  has  this  day 
subscribed  to  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States, 
and  filed  a  bond,   as   prescribed   by  the  Commanding 
General.  E.   0.   CATHERWOOD, 

"'Col.  Commanding  M.  S.  M.' 


" '  HEADQUARTERS  AT  CAMERON,  ) 


February  27th,  1862. 
"'This  is  to  certify  that  James  Duval  has  been  re 
leased  by  giving  bond  and  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States  of  America,  and  is  entitled  to  citizen 
ship  and  protection  as  such  by  all  United  States  forces, 
so  long  as  he  regards  the  same.  By  order. 

"'M.  L.  JAMES,  Major  Com'dg. 
"  I  afterward  obtained  the  following  passes  : 

"'EICHMOND,  May  1st,  1862. 

" '  Mr.  James  Duval  has  permission  to  go  to  Caldwell 
county  to  fill  an  appointment  of  the  gospel,  and  to  La 
fayette  for  the  same  purpose.         ABRAHAM  ALLEN, 
"'Capt.  and  Provost-Marshal  at  Eichmond,  Mo.' 

" '  OFFICE  PROVOST-MARSHAL, 
EICHMOND,  Mo.,  September  30th,  1862. 

" '  Permission  is  hereby  granted  to  James  Duval  to 
go  to  Clinton  and  Caldwell  counties,  Mo.  He  being 
exempt  from  military  duty.  Federal  soldiers  will  re 
spect  this  pass.  W.  ELLIOTT, 

"'By  E.  G-.  LOWE,  Dept.  Provost-Marshal.' 

"  Some  short  time  after  this  I  was  assessed  by  a  com 
mittee  appointed  for  that  purpose  a  tax  of  eighty-eight 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  319 

dollars.  Upon  what  basis  or  principle  this  tax  was 
levied  I  never  learned.  1  failed  to  pay  in  time,  and  I 
had  a  notice  served  on  me  to  pay  within  five  days  or 
property  double  the  amount  would  be  taken  to  satisfy 
this  claim.  This  notice  I  failed  to  save,  or  can  not  just 
now  put  my  hand  on  it.  However,  I  paid  thirty  dollars, 
and  have  the  following  to  show  for  it: 

"'BAY  COUNTY,  Mo.,  Dec.  22,  1862. 
"  '  Bcceived  thirty  dollars  and  —  cents  of  James  Duval, 
for  the  use  of  the  Kay  county  Enrolled  Militia,  Same 
being  in  part  the  amount  assessed  against  him  for  that 
purpose  by  the  committee  appointed  under  Special  Or 
der  No.  30,  dated  Oct.  27,  A.  D.  18G2,  Headquarters 

Bay  county  E.  M.  M. 

"'D.  P.  WIIITMER, 

"'E.   BIGGS, 
"  '  A.  K.  BEYBURN, 
" '  Collecting  Committee/ 

"  Thus  you  see  some  of  the  unjust  restrictions  laid  on 
the  ministers  of  Christ.  When  Christ  says,  'Go  ye  into 
all  the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,' 
the  party  in  power  say,  first  obtain  leave  of  us.  Judge 
ye  whether  it  is  right  to  obey  man  or  God. 

"Do  you  not  think  that  we  have  great  need  of  faith 
ful  gospel  ministers,  who  will  cry  aloud  and  spare  not; 
shew  Israel  his  sins  and  Jacob  his  transgression  ?  Are 
not  these  living  evidences  in  this  day  of  boasted  light 
and  knowledge  of  man's  blindness  and  corruption  ? 

"I  will  here  notice  another  evidence  of  blinded  Chris 
tianity  that  came  under  my  personal  observation.  In 
September,  1862,  when  our  Association  met  at  Crooked 
river,  Bay  county,  the  introductory  sermon  was  preached, 


320  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

by  previous  appointment,  by  Elder  G.  "W.  Stout,  a  man 
of  most  exemplary  Christian  character,  and  held  as  such 
by  his  brethren,  and  even  the  world  itself  honors  him 
as  such;  and  after  the  Association  had  transacted  its 
business  and  finally  adjourned,  and  Elder  Stout  was  on 
his  horse  for  home,  at  somebody's  instance  Capt.  John 
Hawkins  arrested  Elder  Stout  for  traveling  and  preach 
ing  without  first  obtaining  a  pass. 

"Elder  Stout's  friends  interfered  in  his  behalf  and 
vouched  for  him  that  he  would  report  himself  to  Col.  J. 
H.  Moss,  in  command  at  Liberty,  which  he  did ;  and  I 
reported  the  case  back  to  Captain  Hawkins.  Colonel 
Moss  gave  Elder  Stout  a  permit  to  go  to  Nodaway  Asso 
ciation,  and  where  his  business  called  him. 

"  Who  of  Elder  Stout/s  former  brethren  and  friends 
stood  by  and  witnessed  this  thing  but  did  not  interfere? 
You  who  were  present  and  in  the  confidence  of  Captain 
Hawkins  answer  :  '  We  ought  to  lay  down  our  lives  for 
our  brethren/  but  not  arrest  them  and  put  them  in  jail. 

"In  February,  1864,  I  was  reported  to  Captain  Tiffin, 
then  holding  the  post  at  Eichmond.  There  being  no 
Provost-Marshal  there  then,  I  was  sent  to  Clnllieothe, 
and  kept  there  a  prisoner  for  near  two  weeks. 

"  I  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Baker  Wilson  and  two 
others  as  a  guard  to  take  me  to  Chillicothe.  Baker 
Wilson  treated  me  kindly  and  respectfully — very  differ 
ent  from  J.  N.  Henry. 

"He  took  me  to  Mr.  Herri  ck,  the  Provost-Marshal, 
who  placed  me  in  the  hands  of  John  Gant,  with  direc 
tions  to  go  to  the  jail  and  get  my  breakfast,  which  I  did, 
and  then  report  at  his  office.  I  then  made  a  plain  state 
ment  of  facts  as  they  had  occurred  in  this  matter,  and 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  321. 

told  him  I  could  prove  my  assertions  if  he  would  allow 
me  time  to  take  a  few  depositions,  which  he  kindly  did. 
The  Marshal  then  gave  me  the  limits  of  the  town  for 
my  boundary. 

"I  was  now  kindly  invited  to  the  house  of  Charles  II. 
Mansur,  who,  with  his  kind  lady,,  did  all  in  his  power 
to  make  my  situation  as  comfortable  as  possible  under 
the  circumstances,,  for  which  I  feel  under  lasting  obliga 
tions.  I  formed  some  other  acquaintances  who  seemed 
deeply  to  sympathize  with  me,  but  were  actually  afraid 
to  let  it  be  known.  I  occasionally,  as  directed,  reported 
to  the  Marshal,  who,  when  not  engaged  in  business,  was 
free  and  frank  to  talk,  and  I  think  is  a  just  man.  He  said 
he  was  there  to  punish  the  guilty,  not  innocent  men.  I 
asked  him  with  what  I  was  charged  in  this  case.  lie  at 
first  refused  to  tell  me.  I  then  told  him  what  Captain 
Tiffin  had  told  me.  lie  then  showed  me  the  affidavit  of 
Mrs.  Herod,  stating  that  I  had  passed  her  house  piloting 
bushwhackers,  and  that  she  heard  me  say  some  things 
to  Mr.  Jeremiah  McDonald.  I  satisfied  the  Marshal 
that  these  men,  who  had  taken  me  that  day  and  com 
pelled  me  to  pilot  them  a  few  miles,  were  not  bush 
whackers,  but  some  of  Shelby's  men,  under  Col.  Lewis 
Bohanon,  whp  the  day  before  had  taken  Carrollton. 

"The  conversation  said  to  have  .been  had  with  Mr. 
McDonald  was  all  satisfactorily  settled  by  his  deposition 
and  a  few  letters  from  gentlemen  at  Richmond.  So, 
when  the  clay  of  trial  arrived,  there  were  no  other 
charges  against  me  and  I  was  acquitted.  I  felt  humili 
ated  and  mortified  to  think  that  I,  as  a  minister  of 
Christ's  Word,  should  bring  disgrace  on  the  cause  of  my 

Master.     But  what    could   I    do.     All  this  was  forced 
21 


322  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

upon  me,  without  my  consent  in  any  wise.  It  has 
caused  me  a  great  deal  of  sober  reflection  and  deep 
searching  of  heart  to  know  whether  I  was  in  fault. 

"But  upon  more  mature  reflection,  considering  the 
excitement  of  the  times  and  the  apparent  hue  and  cry 
against  every  man  that  would  not  join  in  the  fanaticisms 
of  the  day,  Paul,  the  Apostle,  in  the  2  Timothy  iii.  12, 
came  to  my  relief:  < Yea,  and  all  that  will  live  godly  in 
Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecution/ 

"  These  statements  I  have  made,  and  they  are  well 
known  to  be  strictly  true  by  many  citizens  now  living 
in  this  community;  and  as  we  are  now  making  history 
for  the  generations  who  shall  live  after  us,  let  us  pen 
them  down  for  the  benefit  of  those  who  may  survive  us, 
so  that  all  may  clearly  see  that  men  are  now,  as  in  other 
days,  wricked,  and  that  nothing  short  of  the  love  of  God 
shed  abroad  in  their  hearts  will  make  men  either  love 
or  fear  God  aright. 

"  I  will  now  mention  some  of  the  troubles  that  I  have 
had  with  the  State  authorities. 

"  The  first  trouble,  as  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ,  that 
I  ever  had  with  the  State  authorities  occurred  at  New 
Garden  church,  Kay  county,  on  the  third  day  of  Novem 
ber,  1865.  I  will  detail,  as  near  as  I  can,  exactly  what 
happened  on  this  occasion. 

"  Elder  Joseph  Warder  had  an  appointment  to  preach 
at  New  Garden  on  Thursday,  the  third  day  of  Novem 
ber,  1865,  and  I  promised  to  meet  him  there  on  our  way 
to  Little  Shoal,  Clay  county.  Elder  Warder  failed  to 
come,  so  I  had  to  occupy  the  pulpit,  and  tried  to  preach 
to  the  people  then  assembled  from  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  v.  38 :  '  Refrain  from  these  men  and  let  them 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  323 

alone  :  for  if  this  counselor  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will 
come  to  nought;  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  can  not  over 
throw  it,  lest  haply  ye  be  found  even  to  fight  against 
God.' 

"Nothing  unusual  took  place  during  the  services. 
After  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  I  came  out  of  the 
house  and  went  where  my  horse  was  hitched.  There  1 
was  pursued  by  Charles  Perkins,  with  pistols  buckled 
on  him,  and  he  told  me  that  he  was  authorized  to  arrest 
me.  I  asked  him  for  what  ?  He  then  presented  me  a 
paper,  which  I  read,  which  stated  in  substance,  if  not 
verbatim,  that,  upon  information  furnished  by  Andrew 
Cleavinger,  Joseph  Warder  and  James  Duval  had,  on 
this  3d  day  of  November,  1865,  preached  at  New  Garden 
meeting  house  without  first  having  taken  the  oath  of 
loyalty. 

"Upon  this  charge  Charles  Perkins  was  commanded 
to  forthwith  arrest  the  said  Joseph  Warder  and  James 
Duval,  and  bring  them  before  Hiram  Enlow,  a  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  to  answer  the  aforesaid  charges.  And  this 
you  shall  in  no  wise  omit,  &c.,  &c.  Signed,  Hiram  En- 
low,  J.  P. 

"  Elder  Warder  was  not  present,  notwithstanding  the 
aforesaid  affidavit.  I  was  taken  in  custody  by  the  said 
Charles  Perkins,  who  was  deputized  for  the  purpose, 
Allan  Sisk,  the  legal  constable  of  the  township,  refusing 
to  serve  this  process. 

"  So  I  was  held  in  custody  by  Charles  Perkins,  and 
that  evening  taken  before  his  honor,  Hiram  Enlow,  J.  P., 
and  there  bound  in  a  bond  of  one  thousand  dollars  to 
again  appear  before  said  Eniow  on  the  17th  inst.  John 
Welton  was  my  security  for  my  appearance.  I  was 


324  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

then  released  for  the  present,  and  went  on  to  Little 
Shoal;  Clay  county,  to  attend  my  regular  appointments. 

"  While  in  the  'Squire's  custody,  I  asked  him  if  he 
believed  in  the  Christian  religion  ?  He  said  he  did,  and 
that  he  liked  to  hear  the  gospel  preached.  I  then  asked 
him  if  he  went  to  New  Garden  to-day  to  hear  the  gospel 
preached  ?  He  made  no  reply. 

"  On  the  17th  of  November  I  again  appeared  before 
his  honor,  Hiram  Enlow,  J.  P.  Several  neighbors  and 
friends  were  now  present. 

aB.  J.  Waters,  the  present  Eadical  representative 
from  Kay  county,  was  present,  acting  as  prosecuting  at 
torney.  When  called  up  for  trial,  I  asked  leave  to 
examine  the  papers,  and  found  they  were  not  the  same 
papers  on  which  I  was  arrested^  and  told  them  so.  Elder 
Warder's  name  was  not  on  these  papers  at  all.  The 
'Squire  told  me  that  I  must  answer  to  the  charges  on  the 
papers  before  me.  I  told  the  'Squire  that  this  was  all  a 
new  business  to  me,  and  I  did  not  know  exactly  how  to 
proceed.  I  asked  him  what  provisions  the  law  made 
for  me  under  these  circumstances  ?  He  told  me  I  could 
swear  that  I  could  not  get  justice  in  his  court;  and  that 
I  could  appeal  to  the  Circuit  Court.  I  told  him  that 
was  the  thing  exactly.  I  appealed  to  the  Circuit  Court. 
B.  J.  Waters  then  asked  him  for  what  amount  he  should 
take  the  bond.  I  replied  to  him,  '  Sir,  remember  you 
are  not  bonding  a  felon.'  The  'Squire  said,  fill  the 
bond  for  two  thousand  dollars.  John  Cleavinger  and 
John  Welton  entered  as  bondsmen  for  my  appearance 
at  the  next  Circuit  Court,  the  first  Monday  in  March 
following,  where  I  again  appeared. 

"At  Court  I  met  Elder  Isaac  Odell  and  Allan  Sisk, 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  325 

regular  Baptist  ministers;  Rev.  Samuel  Alexander,  D. 
M.  Proctor  and  Dr.  Moses  F.  Rainwater,  Methodist 
ministers,  and  Rev.  Hardy  Ilolinan,  Kellyite  Methodist 
— all  churned  with  violating  the  law,  because  we  could 
not;  and  would  not,  allow  them  to  be  conscience  keepers 
for  us;  in  taking  an  oath  that  made  us  bow  to  their  god. 
By  so  doing  we  would  acknowledge  that  men  have 
rights  over  their  fellow-men  to  make  them  worship 
God  after  a  prescribed  form  of  law.  AVe  read  that  'God 
is  a  Spirit;  and  they  that  worship  him  must  worship 
him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.' — John  iv,  24. 

"After  the  convention  oath  came  in  force,  prohibit 
ing  ministers  from  solemnizing  marriages,  I  acknowl 
edged  their  right  to  prohibit  in  this  case;  so  I  did  not, 
while  the  law  was  in  force,  attempt  to  marry  any  one. 
But  preaching  the  gospel  to  sinners  was  another  thing. 
Christ  said,  t  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world;'  there 
fore  men  are  not  authorized  to  make  laws  to  govern  his 

O 

kingdom.  Christ  has  given  us  all  necessary  laws  to 
govern  his  kingdom.  Let  all  his  followers  obey  them. 

"At  the  March  term  of  the  Court  we  had  no  trial,  but 
were  all  severally  bound  again  to  appear  at  the  next 
term  of  the  Court;  Jacob  Seek  vouching  for  me  in  this 
case  in  t-ie  sum  of  four  hundred  dollars.  Judge  Walter 
King  presiding. 

"At  that  March  Court  two  indictments  were  found 
against  me  for  preaching  the  gospel  without  first  taking 
the  oath  of  loyalty.  Simon  E.  Odell  was  summoned 
before  the  following  grand  jury  and  gave  information, 
viz.  :  George  A\r.  Sargeant,  foreman,  George  AV.  Foster, 
John  Bogart,  II.  E.  Owens,  James  T.  Lamar,  David 
Conner,  Charles  B.  Bacon,  Holland  Yanderpool,  Jcre- 


326  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

miah  Campbell,  Wm.  Yanbebber,  James  Hughes,  Joseph 
G-ossage,  Daniel  Cramer,  Edwin  Odell,  Sam'l  Clevinger, 
John  Query,  Daniel  Parker  and  Isaiah  Mansur. 

"I  will  now  relate  another  case  that  came  under  my 
notice. 

"About  the  first  of  February,  1866,  Aaron  Cleavinger 
gave  information  to  Elisha  Eiggs,  Esq.,  that  Elder  Isaac 
Odell  had  preached  without  first  having  taken  the  oath 
of  loyalty.  About  the  same  time  Aaron  Cleavinger 
gave  information  to  Elisha  Eiggs,  Esq.,  that  Allan  Sisk 
had  also  violated  the  law  by  '  performing  the  functions' 
of  a  minister  in  like  manner.  Wherefore,  the  said 
Elisha  Ei-ggs,  Justice  of  the  Peace,  did  authorize  and 
require  one  Charles  Perkins  to  arrest  the  said  Isaac 
Odell  and  Allan  Sisk,  and  bring  them  before  him,  the 
said  Elisha  Eiggs,  J.  P.,  which  he  did  about  the  llth  or 
12th  of  February;  and  because  they  refused  to  give  bail 
in  the  case,  did  actually  send  them  to  Richmond  and  put 
them  in  the  county  jail. 

"Friends  interfered,  and  Judge  Walter  King  granted 
a  habeas  corpus,  and  had  them  brought  before  him  in 
Judge  Bannister's  office.  Allan  Sisk  was  now  bound  in 
the  sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  to  appear  at  the  next 
Circuit  Court ;  Lawson  Sisk,  John  Seek  and  Simon  E. 
Odell,  securities.  Elder  Isaac  Odell  was  bound  in  the 
sum  of  two  thousand  dollars  to  appear  at  the  next  Cir 
cuit  Cour- ;  Lawson  Sisk,  John  Seek  and  S.  E.  Odell, 
securities. 

"These  bonds  and  fetters,  and  this  species  of  tyranny 
and  persecution,  did  not  yet  satisfy  the  enemies  of  the 
cross  of  Christ;  their  malicious  hatred  and  fiendish  pro 
pensities  were  not  yet  satisfied  j  they  must  show  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  327 

spirit  of  their  master  yet  a  little  farther — <Yc  are  of 
your  father  the  devil,  and  the  lust  of  your  father  ye  will 
do. — John  viii.  44.  So  about  the  last  of  May  or  the  first 
of  June,  1866,  Nathan  W.  Perkins  informed  Elisha 
Riggs,  J.  P.,  that  James  Duval  had  again,  at  some  place, 
or  at  some  time  (for  the  information  did  not  state  when 
nor  where  the  misdemeanor  was  done),  violate  the  law 
by  preaching  without  first  having  taken  the  oath  of 
loyalty. 

"Near  about  the  same  time,  Alfred  Nelson  informed 
Elisha  Puggs,  J.  P.,  that  Elder  Isaac  Odcll  had  violated 
the  law  by  preaching  without  first  having  taken  the 
oath  of  loyalty.  But  he,  too,  like  Nathan  W.  Perkins, 
failed  to  set  forth  the  time  or  place. 

"The  warrants  to  arrest  and  bring  before  him  or  some 
other  justice  of  the  peace  the  said  Duval  and  Odell  \vere 
placed  in  Constable  Sisk's  hands  to  execute,  so  he  depu 
tized  Joshua  Smart  to  execute  them.  Deputy  Smart 
arrested  Elder  Odell,  and  came  to  my  house  June  12th 
and  arrested  me  in  like  manner,  and  took  us  to  Kich- 
mond,  before  D.  H.  Quesenberry,  J.  P.  Here  we  were, 
like  criminals,  arraigned  in  open  court  to  answer  the 
charge — for  preach  ing. 

Mr.  E.  F.  Estebb,  Prosecuting  Attorney,  appeared 
against  us.  Our  mutual  friends,  Hon.  G.  W.  Dunn  and 
C.  F.  Garner,  Esq.,  appeared  in  our  behalf  before  the 
court  without  charge.  We  had  quite  a  contest  over  the 
case.  Several  speeches  for  and  against  were  made,  but 
as  the  charges  were  not  very  criminal  and  the  informa 
tion  very  indefinite  upon  the  allegation — a  poor  thing 
at  best — the  prosecuting  attorney  failed  to  convict  us, 
and  the  unfortunate  informers  had  the  costs  to  a. 


328  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

"After  the  decision  of  the  '  Cummings  case  we  were 
all  discharged  from  custody,  and  are  still  engaged  in 
tiding  to  preach  Christ— the  Way,  the  Truth,  the  Life— 
to  sinners.  '  But  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to  them 
that  are  lost/ 

"Only  think  of  the  age  of  the  world  in  which  we 
live,  with  all  the  teaching  and  preaching,  and  laws  to 
restrain  men  from  doing  violence  and  wrong  to  their 
fellow  men.  Yet  if  men  are  so  wicked  and  demoralized, 
and  are  living  in  our  midst,  is  it  not  right  and  just  to 
hold  them  to  strict  responsibility  for  what  they  have 
done?  'Let  us  not  be  weary  in  well  doing,  for  in  due 
season  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not.' 

"  Before  I  close  I  will  mention  one  other  case  that 
took  place  under  these  stringent  laws  of  the  State  that 
required  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  take  a  prescribed 
conventional  oath,  or  they  could  not  perform  their  min 
isterial  functions  without  laying  themselves  liable  to 
law. 

"In  the  county  of  Bay  there  is  a  regular  Baptist 
Church  called  Xew  Garden.  This  Church  had  erected 
a  comfortable  building  for  a  place  of  worship.  There 
were,  and  had  been  for  some  time,  political  differences  of 
opinion  among  the  brethren,  and  finally,  in  the  summer 
of  1866,  the  Radical  or  law-abiding  party,  as  they  styled 
themselves,  arraigned  their  pastor,  Elder  Isaac  Odell,  a 
man  of  exemplary  Christian  character,  as  the}'  themselves 
then  admitted,  before  the  Church  for  'violating  the  new 
Constitution.'  Elder  Odell  denied  the  charge.  This 
was  at  their  June  meeting  for  business.  The  case  was 

O 

now  brought  before  the  Church,  Judge  Joseph  Thorp, 
Moderator.     The  case  was  argued  before  the  Church  for 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  329 

some  time,  both  for  and  against  the  charge,  and  finally 
thc  Moderator  put  the  question  to  the  Church,  and  the 
Church  sustained  their  pastor. 

"The  Church  considered  the  question  now  settled  and 
were  remiss  in  prompt  attention  at  the  next  monthly 
meeting;  so  tho.se  who  brought  the  charge  took'  advan 
tage  of  the  absentees  and  again  raised  the  question,  and, 
having  the  majority  then  present,  moved  to  ra-cind  what 
was  done  at  the  last  Church  meeting. 

"The  Church  assumed  the  right  and  jurisdiction  of  a 
court,  and  sat  in  the  capacity  of  a  jury,  and  found,  in 
their  way  of  deciding  things,  Elder  Odell  yuilty  of  the 
charge,  and  excluded  him  from  their  pulpit. 

"The  opposite  party,  or  those  who  remained  with 
the  Association,  tried  to  convince  the  cmnphiiners  that, 
this  was  a  political  offense,  and  that  they  should  have 
nothing  to  do  with  it  until  the  courts  of  the  Si  ate,  which 
alone  had  jurisdiction  of  the  case,  had  convicted  Elder 
Odell  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  then  it  would  be  time 
enough  for  them  to  take  cognizance  of  the  case. 

"These  complainers  admitted  to  the  Church  while  the 
case  was  pending  that  they  had  no  charges  whatever 
against  Elder  Odell;  that  his  practice  was  good  as  a 
Christian,  his  faith  correct,  he  observed  their  Church 
rules  properly,  but  he  must  obey  the  laws  of  his  State. 

"Elder  Odell,  with  others,  as  I  have  already  stated, 
was  at  that  time,  upon  information  furnished,  under  an 
indictment  by  the  grand  jury  for  preaching  without  first 
taking  the  oath  prescribed.  But  these  Uadical  friends 
would  not  wait  until  a  conviction  was  had  in  open  court, 
but  must  now  execute  judgment,  which  they  did,  with 
the  following  consequences  : 


330  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

"  The  Church  now  divided  upon  the  propriety  and  le 
gality  of  such  procedure;  and  each  party  appealed  to  the 
Association  by  sending  letters  and  messengers.  The 
party  that  remained  with  the  Association  sent  up  the  fol 
lowing  question :  <  Is  it  wise  or  scriptural  to  arraign  a 
brother  and  exercise  Church  discipline  when  the  offense 
is  purely  political  ?'  To  which  the  Association  answered 
negatively — 'neither  wise  nor  scriptural.'  So  the  Radi- 
cal  party  was  now  dropped  from  the  fellowship  of  the 
Church  and  the  Association.  The  former  clerk  went 
with  the  Radicals  and  kept,  by  force,  the  Church  records. 

"  The  Radicals  locked  the  church  doors  and  still  keep 
it,  and  unkindly  refuse  to  allow  their  former  brethren 
a  day  in  the  house,  although  the  latter  had  paid  most  in 
building  the  house.  Each  party  remains  separate  and 
has  no  Christian  fellowship  or  intercourse  whatever, 
religiously,  with  each  other. 

"  The  indictment  against  Elder  Odell  in  court  failed, 
consequently  the  charge  was  false;  and  now  who  is  to 
acknowledge  the  wrong  done  in  the  case  ? 

"  I  have  here  stated  that  this  division  was  political, 
and  not  religious,  for  there  was  no  question  concerning 
the  faith  ever  involved  in  the  controversy.  As  proof 
in  the  case,  every  Radical  member  that  cried,  ( obey  the 
law/  left  the  Church  proper  and  went  with  the  disaf 
fected  ones.  Every  Conservative  member  remained 
with  the  Church.  It  is,  therefore,  apparent  to  all  that 
this  division  was  on  a  political  question — a  thing  here 
tofore  not  known  in  our  Churches. 

"  The  Regular  Baptists  have  never  introduced  in  their 
Churches  any  political  tests  as  terms  of  membership  or 
Christian  communion.  Not  so  with  some  who  have 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  331 

separated  from  us ;  '  they  went  out  from  us  because  they 
were  not  of  us ;  for  if  they  had  been  of  us  they  would,  no 
doubt,  have  continued  with  us ;  but  they  went  out  that 
they  might  be  made  manifest  that  they  were  not  all  of 
us.'  1  John  ii.  19. 

"We  allow  our  brethren  to  hold  whatever  political 
opinions  they  may  think  are  right  and  just,  provided 
they  do  not  introduce  them  into  the  Church,  to  the  an 
noyance  and  disturbance  of  the  peace  and  fellowship  of 
the  brethren.  We  have  always,  as  a  religious  body  of 
people,  carefully  avoided  the  mixing  of  Church  and 
State  together  in  our  religious  devotions. 

"  Christ  says,  ( My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'  We 
consider  that  Christ  has  given  us  in  his  Word  a  sufficient 
code  of  laws  to  govern  us  here  in  this  world:  'If  ye 
love  me  keep  my  commandments.'  And  whensoever 
we  disregard  the  written  Word  of  God  and  attempt  to 
supply  supposed  deficiencies  by  the  legislation  of  men, 
we  greatly  err  to  our  own  heart.  This  is  a  reflection 
upon  the  wisdom  of  God  and  denies  the  doctrine  of  in 
spiration  ;  from  which  may  God  deliver  his  people. 

"I  have  written  these  sketches  mostly  from  memory, 
but  I  know  in  the  main  they  are  true,  and  submit  them 
to  your  discretion  and  farther  disposal,  hoping  that 
whatever  may  be  done  may  tend  to  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  instruction  of  his  people  in  establishing  them  in 
the  truth. 

"  Eespectfully,  I  hope,  your  brother  in  gospel  bonds 
for  the  truth's  sake,  JAMES  PUVAL." 


332  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 


CHAPTEE    XVIII. 

WOOLDRIDGE,  MARQUIS,  PUGH  AND   BREEDING. 

Exceptional  Distinction — Revs.  J.  B.  H.  Wooldrige,  D.  J.  Marquis 
and  Geo.  W.  J-.hnson  Arrested,  Abused  and  Imprisoned  for  Asso 
ciating  Together — Rev.  1\I.  J\f.  Paqh  Arrested  and  Imprisoned — 
Arrested  Three  Times  — Indicted — Northern  Methodists  Implicated 
in  his  Persecutions — Flags  over  Pulpits  by  Military  Orders — Efforts 
to  Force  the  Consciences  of  Ministers — A  Caustic  Note — "Der 
Union  Vlag1  on  Der  Secesh  Church" — A  Minister's  "Wife  Ordered 
to  Make  a  Shroud  for  a  Dead  Union  Soldier— Keen  Retort — An 
Old  Minister  in  a  Rebel  Camp — How  he  ''Went  Dead"  and 
"Saved  his  Bacon"  and  Potatoes — Rev.  J.  M.  Breeding — Armed 
Men  Visit  him  at  Midnigbt — Order  him  to  Leave  the  Country  in 
Six  Days  because  he  was  a  Southern  Methodist  Preacher — Arrested 
at  Church  by  Lieutenant  Combs-  A  Parley — Men  said  if  They 
were  not  Permitted  to  Shoot  They  would  Ei™'  Him — AVaylaid  by 
Soldiers  to  Assassinate  Him — Providential  Escape — AVaylaid  the 
Second  Time,  and  Providential  Escape — Move  to  Macon  County — 
Further  Troubles — Reflections. 

If  to  suffer  for  righteousness'  sake  entitles  men  to  exclu 
sive  privileges  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  ministers 
of  Missouri  will  have  pre-eminence  among  those  who 
suffer  for  the  word  of  G-od  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus. 
Exceptional  honors  among  the  sanctified  will  distinguish 
many  of  the  humblest  ministers  of  this  State.  And  if 
the  instigators  of  persecution  are  to  be  put  in  the 
category  of  the  excluded,  some  of  the  most  notorious 
ministers  of  the  State  will,  in  the  final  award,  be  reject 
ed,  disowned  and  dishonored. 

EEV.  GEO.  W.  JOIIXSON,  EEV.  I).  J.  MARQUIS  AND  EEV. 
J.  B.  H.  WOOLDRIDGE. 

Among  the  first  to  feel  the  crushing  power  of  the 
persecutor  were  Bevs.  D.  J.  Marquis  and  J.  B.  H. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  333 

"Wooldridge,  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference,  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  and  Rev.  George  AV.  Johnson,  of  the  Baptist 
Cliurch. 

The  first  ivro  have  for  many  years  been  zealous,  ear 
nest  and  successful  itinerant  ministers,  and  Mr.  Johnson 
is  ii  Baptist  minister  of  high  standing  and  unblemished 
character,  and  Principal  of  the  Tipton  High  School. 

In  1861,  soon  after  the  occupation  of  Jefferson  City 
by  the  Federal  forces,  these  three  men  were  arrested 
by  Col.  Bocrnstein's  order,  or  by  his  officers,  at  Tipton, 
in  Moniteau  county,  taken  to  Jefferson  City,  abused  by 
the  officers,  kept  in  the  dungeon  under  the  State  Capitol 
over  twenty-four  hours  without  a  mouthful  of  food, 
taken  out,  abused,  put  on  board  a  steamer  and  sent  up 
to  Boonville.  They  fell  into  the  hands  of  Col.  Steven 
son,  who  had  them  closely  guarded  in  the  fair  grounds 
for  two  days,  and  then  sent  to  St.  Louis.  Here  they 
were  kept  for  two  days  in  the  guard-house,  in  the  old 
arsenal,  and  then  released  unconditionally,  by  order  of 
Maj or-General  Fremont. 

The  only  charge  against  Marquis  was  that  he  was  a 
minister  of  the  Southern  Methodist  Church,  and  kept 
company  with  TVooldridgc.  They  charged  Wooldridge 
with  keeping  company  with  Southern  Methodist  Minis 
ters  who  were  known  to  be  disloyal ;  and  Johnson  had 
associated  with  Marquis  and  "Wooldrklgc,  and  had  even 
aided  them  in  a  protracted  meeting. 

The  old  adage,  that  "  evil  communications  corrupt 
good  manners,"  is  scarcely  a  criminal  law,  and  the  as 
sociations  of  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  their  legitimate 
work  can  hardly  be  considered  a  criminal  offense  involv 
ing  the  safety  of  the  Federal  Government.  And  yet 


334  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

these  humble  ministers  were  subjected  to  arrest,  insult,, 
imprisonment,  hunger,  abuse  and  various  tortures  of 
mind  and  body,  for  no  other  reason  than  their  ecclesias 
tical  connection  and  ministerial  association. 

While  Mr.  Marquis  was  attending  the  "Warrensburg- 
Arrow  Rock-Waverly  Conference,  in  the  fall  of  1861, 
his  home  was  taken  and  used  for  a  hospital,  and  literally 
stripped  of  everything  of  any  value — even  the  clothing 
of  himself  and  family — leaving  not  a  single  change  of 
raiment  for  any  of  them.  A  suit  of  thin  summer  cloth 
which  Mr.  Marquis  had  on  at  the  time  was  everything 
he  had  to  wear,  and  with  which  to  start  again  in  life. 
This  act  of  plunder  and  robbery  was  done  by  General 
Fremont's  men,  upon  the  charge  that  Marquis  was  a 
Southern  Methodist  minister  and  had  no  rights. 

Believing  that  his  life  was  not  safe  in  Moniteau,  he 
removed  to  Jefferson  county,  where  he  was  still  subject 
to  persecution  during  the  war,  and  where  he  had  the 
honor  of  an  indictment  from  the  grand  jury,  after  the 
war  closed,  for  preaching  the  gospel  without  taking  the 
oath  prescribed  by  the  new  Constitution  of  the  State. 

EEV.  M.  M.  PUGH. 

The  St.  Louis  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South, 
has  few  better  men  than  the  Kev.  M.  M.  Pugh,  at  this 
time  (1869)  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Boonville  district. 

He  is  a  faithful,  zealous,  able  minister  of  the  gospel, 
and  well  reported  of  in  all  the  Churches  for  his  amiable 
spirit,  ardent  zeal,  self-denying  consecration  to  his  work, 
and  successful  labors  in  the  pulpit. 

In  1861  the  Conference  appointed  him  to  Kansas  City 
station.  The  war  had  then  been  raging  fiercely  along 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  335 

the  Missouri-Kansas  border  for  several  months,  and  the 
ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  had  come  in  for  a 
large  share  of  persecution,  and  a  number  of  them  had 
already  fled  for  safety.  Mr.  Pugh  was  placed  by  this 
appointment  in  the  lines  of  some  of  the  meanest  men 
who  wore  the  Federal  uniform  during  the  war.  He  had 
but  a  few  years  before  left  the  Northern  Methodist 
Church  for  the  Southern,  and  he  appreciated  fully  the 
delicacy  of  the  situation  and  the  danger  of  the  surround 
ings,  lie  was  prudent,  cautious  and  circumspect  in  the 
pulpit  and  out  of  it;  gave  utterance  to  no  sentiment 
that  would  afford  even  a  pretext  for  his  arrest  and  pun 
ishment.  He  could  not  approve  of  the  outrages  com 
mitted  in  the  name  of  the  Union  on  the  innocent  and 
defenseless,  but  kept  his  disapprobation  to  himself.  His 
extreme  caution,  however,  did  not  long  exempt  him 
from  annoyance  and  trouble.  He  modestly  writes  : 

"I  was  first  arrested  in  Kansas  City,  in  the  latter 
part  of  1861,  at  the  instance  of  a  Northern  Methodist, 
and  confined  in  Fort  Union  for  a  short  time,  perhaps 
not  more  than  one  hour,  then  released  on  parole  and 
granted  city  limits. 

"In  the  summer  of  1862  I  was  greatly  annoyed  and 
frequently  threatened  by  a  Northern  Methodist  preacher 
who  had  command  of  a  company  in  Kansas  City  at 
that  time. 

"To  avoid  the  relentless  opposition  and  persecution 
of  this  man,  I  left  home  two  or  three  weeks.  He  said 
his  Church  was  largely  represented  in  the  Federal 
army,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  influenced  the  U.  S. 
forces,  and  that  Southern  Methodist  preachers  should 
be  hunted  and  punished.  <  I  mention  this  to  show  that 


338  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

we  were  not  persecuted  for  evil-doing,  but  simply  be 
cause  we  were  Southern  Methodists.  This,  in  their 
eyes,  was  a  crime  of  the  greatest  magnitude. 

"In  the  fall  of  1862  I  was  ordered  to  pray  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States  by  name,  for  the  U.  S. 
Congress,  and  for  the  success  of  the  Union  army,  '  so- 
called.'  This  I  refused  to  do ;  and  said,  among  other 
things,  that  no  man,  or  class  of  men,  should  dictate  my 
prayers. 

"In  the  winter  of  1863  I  was  assessed  as  a  Southern 
sympathizer.  I  refused  to  pay  the  unjust  assessment.  For 
this  refusal  I  was  arrested  and  put  in  the  guard-house 
in  Kansas  City.  Here  I  was  kept  in  close  confinement 
about  twenty-four  hours,  when,  in  company  with  nine 
others  imprisoned  for  the  same  offense,  I  was  sent  to 
Independence  in  a  greasy  wagon  guarded  by  twenty 
men  and  lodged  in  an  exceedingly  filthy  prison.  Col. 
AY.  E.  Penick,  then  in  command,  refused  to  let  us  have 
our  meals  from  the  hotel  or  from  our  friends.  AVe  were 
kept  in  this  filth}'  place  about  twenty-four  hours,  when 
we  were  unconditionally  released  by  order  of  Governor 
Gamble. 

"Believing  that  I  could  do  no  good,  opposed  as  we 
were,  and  that  cruel  men  were  seeking  my  life,  I  left 
Kansas  City  in  April,  1863.  Soon  after  I  left  the  North 
ern  Methodists  took  possession  of  our  church. 

"In  March,  1866,  I  was  indicted  in  Independence  for 
preaching  without  taking  the  oath  of  the  new  Constitu 
tion. 

"I  was  arrested  by  the  Deputy  Sheriff,  a  man  who 
before  the  war  would  not  have  been  thought  of  in  con 
nection  with  that  office.  I  gave  bond  for  my  appear- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  337 

ancc  at  the  next  term  of  the  court.  W.  L.  Bone  and  J. 
B.  Henry,  Esqs.,  went  on  my  bond.  Judge  Tutt  was  on 
the  bench,  and  Mr.  Johnson,  State's  Attorney. 

"In  the  full  I  appeared  in  court,  when  the  case  was 
continued.  The  next  spring,  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court 
having  decided  the  so-called  'test  oath'  unconstitutional 
my  case  was  dismissed. 

"I  was  an  ordained  Elder  in  the  Church,  and  had 
been  preaching  ten  years  when  I  went  to  Kansas  City." 

Before  Mr.  Pugh  left  Kansas  City  he  was  not  only 
informed  that  his  life  was  in  danger,  but  the  Northern 
Methodist  preacher,  of  whom  he  speaks,  informed  him 
and  others  that  such  was  the  feeling  of  his  men  toward 
Mr.  Pugh  that  he  feared  assassination  every  night — that 
Mr.  Pugh  could  not  walk  the  streets  any  time,  da}*  or 
night,  in  safety. 

It  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  military  commanders 
to  send  special  orders  to  ministers  of  the  Southern 
Methodist  Church,  ordering  prayers  for  specific  persons 
or  things,  and  requiring  flags  to  be  displayed  from  the 
pulpit  or  church  door. 

It  will  answer  the  purposes  of  history  merely  to  sam 
ple  these  orders.  Petty  tyranny  no  where  surpasses  it : 

"[Special  Orders,  No.  10.] 

"HEADQUARTERS,  WESTPORT,  Mo., ) 
"January  31,  1863.       j 

"I.  It  being  proper  that  in  all  our  supplications  for 
the  blessings  of  Deity  the  condition  of  our  beloved 
but  distracted  country  should  not  be  overlooked;  there 
fore,  it  is  ordered — to  the  end  that  should  any  prove 
forgetful  they  may  be  reminded  that  they  have  a  gov 
ernment  to  pray  for — that  during  the  quarterly  meeting 
22 


338  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  now  in  ses 
sion  in  this  city,  the  Stars  and  Stripes  be  conspicuously 
displayed  in  front  of  the  pulpit  of  the  church  where 
said  meeting  is  held. 

"  II.  The  pastor  of  said  church  will  cause  this  order 
to  be  published  from  the  pulpit  of  his  church. 

"By  order  of  W.  C.  Ransom,  Major,  commanding U. 
S.  forces  at  "Westport,  Mo." 

Eev.  John  A.  Murphy  was  pastor,  and  Messrs.  H. 
Houck  and  A.  P.  Warfield  "executed  the  order  to  save 
the  property." 

The  following  note  explains  the  following  order.  The 
order  gave  rise  to  many  reflections,  doubtless,  that  are 
not  in  the  note.  The  note  is  given  verbatim: 

"BRO.  P. — On  the  opposite  page  you  will  observe  an 
item  of  history  which  may  be  worthy  a  place  in  your 
forthcoming  book.  The  occasion  of  this  order  was  the 
anniversary  of  the  '  Camp  Jackson  Victory/  which  was 
celebrated  hugely  by  the  St.  Charles  'Loilists/  especially 
by  the  Teutonic  portion  of  them. 

"  Ours  was  the  only  Church  in  the  city  honored  (?)  by 
Colonel  Emmons  with  an  official  order  to  display  the 
National  colors.  The  order  was  obeyed,  of  course;  and 
on  the  return  of  our  'Super  Stupid  Union  Savers'  from 
their  day  of  bacchanalian  revelry  in  the  suburbs  of  the 
city,  our  church  was  again  honored  (?)  by  a  halt  in  front 
of  it,  and  'three  cheers  for  der yunion  flag  on  der  Secesh 
Church.' 

"Col.  Emmons  and  his  'Home  Guards'  ought  to  be 

immortalized.     Could  you  not  help  it  on  ?     They  will 

certainly  live  while  St.  Charles  Methodism  can  remember, 

"  Truly, 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  339 

The  order  is  as  follows  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  ST.  CHARLES,  Mo.,  1 
"May  9,  1863.      } 

"Messrs.  Dennis  McDonald,  Benjamin  K.  Shores,  Dr. 
Evans  and  John  S.  McDowell,  Trustees  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  at  St.  Charles,  Mo.,  will  cause  the  National  Flag 
to  be  raised  over  their  church  in  this  city  without  delay. 

"BEN.  EMMONS,  JR., 
"  Colonel  and  Provost-Marshal." 

At  Kansas  City,  St.  Joseph,  Jefferson  City  and  many 
other  places  similar  orders  were  issued,  and  in  some  in 
stances  orders  were  sent  up  to  the  pulpit  commanding 
special  and  public  prayers  to  be  offered  for  specific  per 
sons  and  things,  either  to  test  the  loyalty  of  ministers, 
or,  more  truthfully,  to  trifle  with  the  consciences  of  men 
in  the  solemn  matters  of  divine  worship. 

In  some  instances  military  commanders  would  order 
the  strongest  Southern  sympathizers  to  make  Union 
flags,  or  shrouds  for  dead  Union  soldiers.  JSTot  a  few 
amusing  incidents  occurred  from  this  cause,  only  one  of 
which  must  suffice  now,  as  it  occurred  with  a  minister's 
wife,  and  is  a  fine  specimen  of  ready  retort  and  genuine 
wit  upon  a  solemn  subject. 

In  the  winter  of  1862  Major  Oliver,  in  command  of 
about  four  companies  of  U.  S.  troops,  entered  Indepen 
dence,  Mo.,  and  established  his  winter  quarters  in  the 
Female  College  buildings.  When  his  command  had 
approached  within  two  miles  of  the  city  they  were  fired 
on  from  the  brush  by  Quan troll's  " bushwhackers."  One 
man  was  killed  and  several  severely  wounded. 

Major  Oliver  was  much  exasperated,  and  made  many 
threats  that  were  never  carried  into  execution.  Amongst 


340  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

other  things  he  made  inquiry  for  the  strongest  female 
secessionist;  or  as  he  termed  it,  "  she-rebel/'  in  the  city, 
vowing  that  he  would  order  her  to  make  a  shroud  for 
the  dead  soldier.  Several  ladies  were  mentioned  whose 
sympathies  with  the  South  were  very  strong,  and, 
amongst  the  number,  Mrs.  Wallace,  the  wife  of  the  Rev. 
T.  "Wallace,  a  Southern  Methodist  preacher.  The  fact 
that  she  was  a  minister's  wife  gave  her  Southern  pro 
clivities  pre-eminence  in  his  mind,  and  he  sent  his 
orderly  with  the  goods  and  about  the  following  message: 

"  Madam,  Major  Oliver,  commanding  this  post,  has 
learned  that  you  are  the  strongest  secesh  woman  in  this 
city,  and  has  sent  me  with  these  goods  and  an  order 
that  you  make  forthwith  a  shroud  for  a  Union  soldier 
killed  by  the  bushwhackers  this  morning.  He  hopes 
that  you  will  in  this  way  compensate,  in  part,  for  the 
work  of  your  bushwhacker  friends/' 

This  last  sentence  was  uttered  in  a  tone  and  with  an 
emphasis  that  did  not  permit  her  to  doubt  its  import. 
She  instantly  and  politely  replied : 

"Present  my  respects  to  Major  Oliver,  and  tell  him 
the  shroud  will  be  ready  in  two  hours ;  and  say  to  him 
that  it  would  afford  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  make 
shrouds  for  his  whole  command." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Mrs.  Wallace  was  not 
troubled  with  anymore  shroud  making  for  Maj.  Oliver's 
command. 

During  this  same  winter,  and  while  Major  Oliver  was 
in  command  at  Independence,  in  the  many  skirmishes 
and  fights  between  the  Federal  soldiers  and  "Qnantrell's 
bushwhackers,"  as  they  were  called,  many  rich  incidents 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  341 

occurred,  amongst  them  the  following,  in  which  one  of 
the  oldest  ministers  in  the  State  was  the  hero : 

Rev.  S.  S.  Colburn,  for  many  long  years  a  traveling 
preacher  in  the  itinerant  ranks  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  and  then  living  in  Cass  county,  in  a  superannuated 
condition;  had  been  so  much  annoyed,  so  often  robbed, 
and  his  life  so  repeatedly  threatened,  that  he  concluded 
to  leave  his  home  and  place  himself  under  the  protec 
tion  of  friendly  bayonets  as  his  only  means  of  safety. 
He  happened  one  day  upon  the  camp  of  Quantrell  and 
his  men,  some  of  whom  he  knew  very  well  as  his 
"neighbor  boys."  They  prevailed  on  him  to  remain 
with  them  a  few  days  and  they  would  protect  him.  He 
was  too  old  to  bear  arms  and  do  the  kind  of  fighting 
they  had  to  do,  but  he  could  keep  camp  for  them  and 
stay  with  his  old  friends  sometimes  at  night.  They 
offered  the  best  they  had,  with  their  most  vigilant 
protection,  which  the  old  man  concluded  to  accept  for  a 
few  days. 

He  had  not  been  long  with  them  when  their  supplies 
were  about  to  give  out,  and  a  consultation  was  had  as 
to  the  best  method  of  replenishing  the  stock.  It  was 
soon  agreed  that  Mr.  Colburn  should  go  to  the  house  of 
an  old  friend  not  far  off,  stay  all  night,  and  bring  in  a 
sack  of  potatoes  the  next  morning.  With  this  intent  he 
left  the  camp  late  in  the  evening,  and  soon  found  him 
self  in  the  comfortable  home  of  his  friend,  and  in  the 
most  agreeable  family  intercourse  around  a  cheerful  fire. 
Old  times  were  talked  over  and  present  events  canvassed 
till  a  late  hour,  when  the  "  family  Bible,"  the  worship, 
the  good  night  and  the  downy  bed  closed  the  scene.  A 
refreshing  sleep  brought  the  old  man  to  an  early  start, 


842  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

and  the  friendship  of  other  years  filled  his  sack  with 
fine  potatoes ;  and,  as  the  sun  arose  upon  the  world,  he 
hailed  the  smoke  of  the  early  camp  fire,  and  pressed  on 
toward  his  hungry  protectors. 

Just  at  daylight  the  camp  had  "been  surprised  and 
attacked  by  a  squad  of  Federal  soldiers.  The  rebels  fled 
in  confusion,  leaving  the  camp  in  possession  of  the 
enemy,  while  they  formed  in  the  adjacent  brush  and 
prepared  to  re-take  the  camp.  Just  as  Mr.  Colburn 
rode  into  camp,  all  ignorant  of  what  had  occurred, 
Quantrell  opened  fire  on  the  enemy,  which  was  prompt 
ly  returned.  The  preacher  comprehended  the  situation 
in  an  instant,  and,  wheeling  his  horse,  started  to  retreat. 
He  was  followed  by  a  volley  of  whistling  minnie  balls 
from  the  new  occupants  of  the  camp,  and  fell  from  his 
horse  instantly,  by  his  sack  of  potatoes,  and  "went 
dead."  The  rebels  re-took  their  camp,  and  in  the  pre 
cipitate  retreat  of  the  enemy  they  rode  over  the  sack 
of  potatoes  and  the  body  of  the  preacher,  the  horses 
every  time  clearing  both  at  a  bound.  -When  the  preacher 
was  assured  of  safety,  he  got  up,  shouldered  his  pota 
toes  and  walked  into  camp  with  a  broad  smile  on  his 
face,  to  the  great  joy  of  his  friends.  By  a  timely  ruse 
he  saved  both  his  bacon  and  potatoes. 

EEV.  J.  M.  BREEDING. 

The  following  account  of  the  persecution  of  this  ex 
cellent  and  faithful  local  preacher  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  is  quite  an  abridgement  of  the  statement  fur 
bished,  but  is  amply  sufficient  to  show  that  very  few 
men  in  these  perilous  times  suffered  more,  and  escaped 
more  frequently,  as  "  with  the  skin  of  his  teeth."  How 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  343 

wonderful  that  special  Providence  which  so  often  inter 
poses  to  save  the  lives  of  his  chosen  servants! 

In  March,  1863,  Mr.  Breeding  was  residing  on  Barker's 
creek,  in  Henry  county,  Mo.  His  wife  was  very  ill— 
not  able  to  raise  her  head  from  her  pillow.  When  they 
were  alone,  and  at  midnight,  three  armed  men  opened 
the  yard  gate,  rode  rapidly. up  to  the  house,  and  called 
for  Mr.  B.  to  come  out.  This  he  declined  to  do,  telling 
them  that  he  could  hear  what  they  had  to  say  where  he 
was.  He  saw  from  the  door,  which  he  held  ajar,  that 
they  held  their  pistols  well  in  hand,  as  if  awaiting  an 
object  to  shoot.  They  ordered  him  to  come  out  a  sec 
ond  time,  and  in  no  genteel  language.  He  refused, 
saying  to  them  that  if  they  would  come  to  see  him  in 
the  day  time  he  would  see  and  talk  with  them  like 
neighbors. 

They  asked  him  if  he  was  armed.  He  told  them  that 
he  was  a  civil  man,  and  had  some  plows  with  which  he 
expected  to  cultivate  the  ground  in  the  summer;  and  did 
not  let  them  know  that  he  was  wholly  unarmed.  They 
asked  his  politics,  and  were  informed  that  he  never 
meddled  with  the  politics  of  the  country;  that  his  only 
platform  was  "Kepentance  toward  God,  and  faith  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

"You  are  a  preacher,  then  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  try  to  preach  sometimes." 

"A  Southern  Methodist  preacher?" 

"Yes,  I  belong  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South?" 

"Well,  that  is  just  what  we  have  understood,  and  we 
don't  intend  to  let  any  such  man  live  in  this  country. 
We  have  come  with  authority  to  order  you  to  leave  in 


344  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

six  days,  and  if  you  are  here  at  the  expiration  of  that 
time  it  will  not  be  well  with  you.  AYe  want  to  know 
whether  you  intend  to  leave  or  not." 

Mr.  B.  asked  for  their  authority,  which  they  declined 
to  give  ;  whereupon  he  told  them  as  he  had  not  meddled 
in  any  way  with  their  political  strife  he  did  not  think 
any  sane  officer  would  send  them  at  such  a  time  on  such 
business.  They  remarked  that  he  could  either  obey  or 
risk  the  consequences,  and  turned  and  rode  off. 

The  excitement  and  alarm  of  this  midnight  interview 
proved  well  nigh  fatal  to  his  wife.  As  soon  as  they 
were  gone,  and  he  could  renew  his  attentions  to  his  wife, 
he  thought  that  she  was  already  passing  down  into  the 
shadow  of  death.  The  anxiety  and  agony  of  the  re 
maining  part  of  that  dreadful  night  no  tongue  can  tell, 
no  pen  describe.  About  daylight  she  began  to  revive, 
and  then  to  rest.  On  his  knees,  at  her  bedside,  he  de 
termined  that  he  would  not  leave  her,  though  they 
should  kill  him. 

A  few  days  after  this  occurrence,  Mr.  B.  learned  from 
the  nearest  military  post,  through  a  friend,  that  no  such 
order  had  been  issued  ;  but  that  the  commander  of  the 
post,  Captain  Gallihar,  would  not  be  responsible  for 
what  his  men  did  from  under  his  eye. 

During  the  following  summer  there  were  very  few 
nights  when  one  or  more  of  these  lawless  men  Avas  not 
seen  prowling  about  the  premises  and  keeping  the 
preacher  in  constant  dread  of  arson  or  assassination. 
He  had  no  peace  and  felt  no  security. 

They,  doubtless,  meditated  midnight  mischief,  but  had 
not  the  courage  to  attempt  it.  They  changed  their 
plans,  and  began  to  report  to  the  military  officers  vari- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  345 

ous  things  on  Mr.  Breeding,  to  influence  them  to  inter 
fere  for  them  and  have  him  put  out  of  the  way. 

In  July  his  appointment  in  Calhoun  was  attended  one 
Sabbath  by  a  Lieut.  Combs,  with  his  company  of  men, 
whom  he  stationed  at  convenient  places  about  the  church 
and  along  the  road  near  the  church,  as  though  they  ex 
pected  to  encounter  a  desperate  enemy. 

As  he  approached  the  church  and  began  to  compre 
hend  the  situation,  he  discovered  what  he  afterward 
learned  were  signals.  When  these  signals  were  made 
the  whole  force  moved  out  to  the  road  and  advanced 
rapidly  toward  the  preacher;  he  was  halted  and  his 
name  demanded. 

"  You  pray  for  <  Bushwhackers/  I  learn,"  said  the 
officer. 

"No  more  than  for  other  sinners,"  the  preacher  an 
swered. 

"But,"  said  the  officer,  "some  of  the  boys  tell  me 
they  have  heard  you  pray  for  the  success  of  Bush 
whackers.  They  say  they  have  known  you  long,  and 
that  you  are  an  original  secessionist;  that  you  have 
always  believed  in  secession/'  &c. 

The  preacher  appealed  to  those  who  had  known  him 
the  longest,  if  they  ever  heard  him  utter  disloyal  senti 
ments  or  knew  him  to  attend  a  political  meeting  of  any 
kind.  He  was  no  political  partisan,  and  never  had  been- 
They  finally  told  him  that  he  was  a  Southern  Methodist 
preacher  and  that  was  enough,  as  they  were  all  rebels. 

While  this  conversation  was  going  on  and  the  most 
of  the  company  were  in  disorder,  a  squad  of  men  were 
drawn  up  in  line  in  front  of  the  preacher  with  their 
guns  ready  for  use.  Lieut.  Combs  stepped  up  in  front 


346  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

of  these  men,  when  the  conversation  closed  with  the 
preacher,  and  talked  to  them  for  some  time  in  a  subdued 
tone  of  voice.  At  the  close  of  the  interview  one  of  the 
men  said,  in  a  low  voice  :  "  Well,  if  you  will  not  let  us 
shoot  him,  we  will  egg  him,"  and  started  off  to  a  barn 
near  by  from  which  he  soon  returned  with  his  hands 
full  of  eggs.  The  officer  would  not  let  him  use  the  eggs, 
and  after  some  further  conversation  he  dismissed  the 
preacher  and  took  his  company  back  to  headquarters. 

A  few  days  after  this  Mr.  Breeding  had  occasion  to 
go  to  Windsor  for  medicine  for  his  afflicted  wife.  There 
he  again  met  these  Calhoun  soldiers.  They  were  very 
annoying  and  insulting.  A  mounted  squad  of  them 
started  off  before  Mr.  B.  was  ready  and  took  the  road 
leading  to  his  house.  When  the  preacher  started  home 
and  had  reached  the  forks  of  the  road,  he  was  minded 
to  take  the  plainest  and  best  road,  but  his  horse  pulled 
so  obstinately  for  the  other  that  he  finally  yielded  and 
reached  his  home  in  safety.  The  next  day  a  friend 
came  to  see  if  he  was  safe,  and  informed  him  that  the 
squad  of  soldiers  that  left  Windsor  before  him,  waylaid 
the  road  to  assassinate  him.  What  a  providential  de 
liverance  ! 

The  next  Sabbath  Mr.  Breeding  had  a  regular  appoint 
ment  to  preach  at  Windsor.  With  the  Sabbath  morning 
came  a  foraging  party  to  his  house  demanding  breakfast. 
They  stayed  and  detained  the  preacher  until  it  was  too 
late  to  reach  his  appointment,  and  he  had  to  remain  at 
home.  This  detention  saved  him  further  trouble,  and 
probably  his  life.  He  afterward  learned  that  a  band 
of  twenty  men  were  all  that  morning  on  the  road  that 
he  was  expected  to  pass.  When  it  became  so  late  that 


MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI.  347 

they  supposed  he  had  gone  by  some  other  way,  they 
went  to  the  church,  surrounded  it  and  entered,  but  to 
discover  again  their  disappointment.  The  preacher  was 
nowhere  to  be  found ;  and  in  consultation  some  wanted 
to  go  immediately  to  his  house  and  inflict  summary  pun 
ishment,  but  other  counsels  prevailed,  and  they  deter 
mined  to  try  him  again  the  next  Sabbath  at  his  appoint 
ment  at  Moffat's  School  house. 

The  Sabbath  came,  and  with  its  earliest  rays  came  a 
messenger  from  a  Mr.  Owen,  a  Baptist  friend,  request 
ing  Mr.  Breeding  to  come  to  his  house  immediately  as 
his  son  was  at  the  point  of  death.  Mr.  B.  went  without 
delay  several  miles  in  a  direction  from  the  church.  After 
detaining  him  as  long  as  he  could,  Mr.  Owen  informed 
him  of  a  trap  set  for  him  that  day,  and  that  he  must  re 
main  at  his  house  all  day.  The  preacher  was  not  aware 
of  any  evil  designs,  and  only  yielded  to  much  earnest 
solicitation  to  keep  out  of  harm's  way. 

After  having  so  often  and  so  narrowly  escaped,  Mr. 
Breeding  thought  it  best  to  seek  greater  safety  else 
where.  Accordingly  he  disposed  of  his  effects,  packed 
up  arid  journeyed  to  Macon  county,  in  North  Missouri, 
and  settled  down  near  the  old  Hebron  Church.  This 
move  was  attended  with  much  privation,  suffering,  dan 
ger  and  pecuniary  loss.  He  found  at  his  new  home  a 
faithful  little  band  of  men  and  women  who  met  every 
Sabbath  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made.  To  these 
he  gladly  joined  himself. 

By  this  time  religious  privileges  were  few  and  religious 
liberty  greatly  abridged  by  the  operation  of  the  "  new 
Constitution."  Ministers  were  afraid  to  preach,  and  the 
membership  discouraged  and  depressed.  The  party  in 


348  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

power  were  very  vigilant  in  hunting  out  and  dragging 
before  the  civil  courts  all  non-juring  ministers. 

Mr.  Breeding  could  not  take  the  oath,  and  he  con 
tented  himself  for  some  time  with  an  occasional  exhorta 
tion  to  the  faithful  few  who  still  kept  the  altar  fires 
burning  in  a  quiet  way. 

The  meetings  for  prayer  began  to  attract  the  attention 
of  those  in  authority.  They  concluded  that  Mr.  B. 
must  be  preaching,  as  the  meetings  were  so  regular  and 
so  well  attended.  The  super-loyalists  determined  if  such 
was  the  case  they  would  take  the  law  into  their  own 
hands  and  see  what  virtue  there  was  in  powder  and  ball. 

The  next  Sabbath  found  eight  armed  men  on  the  front 
seat  to  enforce  the  authority  of  the  new  Constitution. 
There  appeared  an  equal  number  of  orderly  citizens 
prepared  to  protect  the  peaceful  worship  of  the  congre 
gation.  For  a  time  matters  wore  quite  a  menacing 
aspect. 

The  usual  prayer  meeting  exercises  were  had,  and 
Mr.  Breeding  closed  up  with  a  warm  and  an  earnest  ex 
hortation.  The  services  were  somewhat  abbreviated, 
that  the  unfriendly  parties  might  the  sooner  be  separated. 

The  next  Sabbath  the  same  armed  super-loyalists 
were  present,  but  the  friends  of  peace  and  order  were 
absent.  The  preacher  had  great  liberty  in  the  service, 
and  felt  in  no  way  intimidated  by  the  presence  of  armed 
men  on  the  front  bench.  During  his  earnest  exhorta 
tion,  founded  upon  a  favorite  text,  the  men  became 
somewhat  excited,  but  they  had  either  not  chosen  a 
leader  or  the  leader  showed  the  white  feather.  They 
kept  calling  one  upon  the  other  to  start — "  You  start, 
and  I  will  follow."  "No,  you  start,  and  I  will  follow," 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  349 

were  expressions,  though  whispered,  that  could  be  dis 
tinctly  heard  by  those  near  them.  Such  things  did  not 
deter  the  preacher.  They  could  not  browbeat  him 
down,  and  finally,  in  their  shame,  they  vented  their  pique 
on  a  luckless  dog  that  lay  stretched  out  on  the  floor 
near  them. 

After  this  frutless  attempt  to  frighten  these  faithful 
and  devout  men  and  women,  and  to  get  some  pretext 
for  adding  another  name  to  the  list  of  Missouri  Martyrs, 
they  surceased  their  persecutions,  modified  their  preju 
dices,  toned-  down  their  spirit,  and  from  enemies  some 
of  them  have  become  the  fast  friends  and  even  the  zeal 
ous  converts  of  the  sect  that  was  "  everywhere  spoken 
against.'7 

Such  scenes  of  suifer ing,  trial  and  danger,  simply  be 
cause  the  victim  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  recalls 
the  persecutions  of  other  times,  and  re-enacts  a  history 
which  we  had  vainly  hoped  would  not  darken  the  annals 
of  the  nineteenth  century. 

While  the  details  of  these  dark  scenes  are  stripped  of 
all  extra  coloring  that  the  naked  facts  ma}'  appear,  the 
ever  active  imagination  will,  despite  our  soberest  efforts, 
supply  the  want,  and  memory  will  be  busy  with  the  his 
tory  of  other  times  and  other  countries  until  Missouri 
is  forgotten  ;  the  finest  model  of  human  government 
ever  devised  by  man  crumbles  into  dust;  the  much 
vaunted  religions  liberty  expires  upon  its  own  dese 
crated  altars;  the  light  of  a  boasted  civilization  fades  into 
darkness ;  the  noblest  and  freest  institutions  go  down  in 
hopeless  barbarism;  a  pure,  non-political  Christianity, 
with  a  non-juring  ministry,  are  called  upon  to  reproduce 
the  agony  of  the  Garden  and  the  tragedy  of  Calvary 


350  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

without  repeating  the  work  and  grace  of  atonement, 
and  in  memory  we  are  living  over  the  times  of  Charles 
the  Fifth,  Montmorenci  and  the  Duke  of  Ava. 
The  spirits  of  the  French  Huguenots,  the  Waldenses, 
Yaudois  Martyrs  and  Bohemian  Protestants  have  been 
reproduced  in  the  ministry  of  Missouri.  "  Why  do  the 
heathen  rage  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing  ?  The 
kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  and  the  rulers  take 
counsel  together  against  the  Lord  and  against  his 
anointed,  saying,  <  Let  us  break  their  bands  asunder  and 
cast  awav  their  cords  from  us/  " 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  351 


CHAPTEE    XIX. 

REVS.  R.  N.  T.  HOLLIDAY  AND  GREEN  WOODS. 

Rev.  R.  N.  T.  Holliday — Statement  of  his  Persecutions  Furnished 
by  Dr.  Richmond,  a  Federal  Officer — Could  not  War  upon  the 
Institutions  of  Heaven — Mr.  Holliday  aloof  from  Politics — Mis 
construed — General  W.  P.  Hall  and'  his  Militia  Proclamation — 
General  Hall  and  Mr.  Holliday — General  Bassett — Rev.  Wni. 
Toole,  Provost  Marshal,  and  Mr.  Holliday — A  Renegade — Platte 
City  Burned  by  Jennison  and  Mr.  H.  Ordered  to  be  Shot  on  Sight 
— He  Escapes— Is  Arrested  in  Clinton  County — Again  Ordered  to 
be  Shot — Escapes  to  Illinois — Returns  in  1805— Goes  to  Shelbyville 
and  is  Indicted  for  Preaching  Without  Taking  the  Oath — Crimes 
of  the  War — Common  Law  Maxim  Reversed — Prominent  Minis 
ters  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  Assumed  to  be  Guilty  of  Treason 
• — Murder  of  Rev.  Green  Woods — Birth,  Early  Ministry  and  Gen 
eral  Character — Gives  up  his  District — Retires  to  his  Farm  in  Dent 
County — Affecting  Account  of  his  Murder  given  bv  his  Daughter 
— Extract  from  a  Letter  Written  by  his  Wife — Details  Published 
in  the  St.  Louis  Advocate  of  June  18,  186G — Reflections. 

REV.  E.  N.  T.  HOLLIDAY. 

The  following  account  of  the  persecutions  of  this  good 
and  useful  minister  of  the  gospel  is  furnished  by  Dr. 
Oregon  Richmond,  "who  was  an  officer  in  the  Fed 
eral  army,  and  always  anxious  for  the  triumph  of  the 
Union  forces."  Upon  that  ground  he  properly  claims 
the  absence  of  undue  bias  from  his  statement.  The 
whole  case  is  so  fully  and  minutely  reported  that  it 
needs  neither  introduction  nor  comment  to  aid  in  a  due 
appreciation  of  the  facts: 

"CANTON,  Mo.,  March  8,  1869. 

"At  the  request  of  Rev.  R.  K  T.  Holliday,  I  have 
consented  to  put  together  and  transmit  the  somewhat 
remarkable  events  of  that  period  of  his  life  connected 


352  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

with  the  late  war  troubles.  This  request  is  the  result 
of  an  antipathy  on  his  part  to  acting  the  part  of  a  self- 
eulogist.  In  my  judgment  no  greater  eulogy  can  be 
written  of  a  minister  of  the  gospel  than  that  of  a  calm, 
unvarnished  recital  of  the  persecution  to  which  that 
class  of  our  citizens  was  subjected  during  the  preval 
ence  of,  and  immediately  subsequent  to,  the  late  war. 

"And  perhaps,  after  all,  it  is  but  simple  justice  that 
these  facts  should  be  written  by  one  who  was  an  officer 
in  the  Federal  army,  and  always  anxious  for  the  tri 
umph  of  the  Union  forces.  Though  an  officer  in  the 
Union  army,  he  can  thank  God  that  his  military  life  is 
unstained  by  a  single  act  of  cruelty  or  persecution  ;  and, 
above  all,  is  he  thankful  that  he  never  made  use  of  his 
military  power  to  wTar  against  the  institutions  of  Hea 
ven  or  the  chosen  instruments  ordained  for  their  estab 
lishment  amongst  men.  In  other  words,  he  was  not 
attached  to  a  Missouri  regiment,  is  not  a  son  of  Missouri, 
and  hence  has  never  been  instructed  in  the  mysteries 
of  that  department  of  military  tactics  that  teaches  the 
wonderful  doctrine  that  the  truest  patriotism  consists 
in  the  abuse  of  defenseless  women  and  children,  and 
the  subversion  of  the  sublimest  precepts  of  religion 
by  the  persecution  and  murder  of  its  chosen  apostles. 

"In  September,  1860,  Eev.  E.  1ST.  T.  Holliday,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  appointed  by  the  Missouri 
Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  of  which  he  has 
long  been  a  member,  to  Bushville,  in  Buchanan  county, 
Mo.  In  the  ensuing  spring  the  war  commenced,  but  it 
was  not  until  May,  1861,  that  he  received  the  first  inti 
mation  of  the  approaching  trouble  that  would  draw 


MARTYRDOM     IX     MISSOURI.  853 

him  into  its  clutches,   and  ultimately  make  him  a  wan 
derer  and  an  exile  from  his  chosen  field  of  usefulness. 

"About  that  time  a  Union  meeting  was  held  near 
Bushville,  and  addressed  by  Hon.  Willard  P.  Hall  and 
others  from  St.  Joseph.  Mr.  Ilolliday  was  urged  to  be 
present  and  reply  on  behalf  of  the  South-  this  he  de 
clined  to  do.  He  was  not  even  present  at  the  meeting, 
believing  that  ministers  of  the  gospel  should  keep  them 
selves  unspotted  from  the  political  strifes  of  men.  Yet 
his  enemies  said  that  he  stayed  away  through  personal 
fear,  and  he  was  henceforth  the  subject  of  various  kinds 
of  annoyances  and  petty  persecutions. 

"The  Conference  of  September,  18G1,  returned  Mr. 
Holliday  to  Kushville.  He  was  not  molested  until 
March,  1862,  when  Brig.-Gcneral  W.  P.  Hall  issued  a 
proclamation  requiring  all  men  subject  to  military  duty 
to  enroll  themselves  in  the  State  militia.  Mr.  Holliday 
refused  to  enroll,  upon  the  ground  that  ministers  were 
exempt  from  military  duty.  Gen.  Hall  sent  him  word 
at  once,  that  if  he  did  not  enroll  he  would  have  him  ar 
rested.  Mr.  Ilolliday  replied  that,  being  exempt  from 
military  duty  by  the  laws  of  the  State,  he  could  but 
consider  the  demand  extra-official,  and  if  an  arrest  must 
be  the  result  of  non-compliance  with  an  illegal  demand, 
he  preferred  to  be  arrested.  Upon  this  General  Hall 
addressed  a  note  to  Mr.  II.  in  the  politest  terms,  request 
ing  an  interview  to  arrange  the  difficulty.  Trusting 
the  General's  honor,  Mr.  Ilolliday  complied ;  but,  upon 
presenting  himself  at  headquarters,  the  General  refused 
to  see  him,  and  ordered  him  taken  to  the  Provost-Mar 
shal's  office  for  enrollment.  Gen.  Bassett,  the  Provost- 
Marshal,  had  the  entrance  to  his  office  securely  guarded 
23 


354  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

after  Mr.  II.  was  admitted,  and  informed  him  that  he 
must  enroll  under  Order  19,  as  a  Union  man,  and  submit 
to  a  physical  examination,  or  under  Order  24,  as  a  rebel 
sympathizer,  and  pay  a  commutation  fee  of  830.  Find 
ing  submission  inevitable,  or  something  worse,  Mr.  II. 
registered  under  Order  24,  but  refused  to  pay  the  com 
mutation  as  an  unlawful  and  an  unauthorized  exaction, 
and  demanded  his  exemption  papers  as  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  at  the  same  time  producing  his  ordination 
parchments.  General  Bassett,  after  some  delay,  gave 
him  exemption  papers,  and,  after  considerable  annoy 
ance,  he  gave  him  a  pass  also,  which  enabled  him  to 
travel  back  and  forth  and  fill  his  appointments  without 
farther  molestation  than  an  occasional  petty  persecution, 
the  instigation  of  malice,  and  an  occasional  threat  of 
being  shot. 

"During  the  summer  of  1852  Mr.  Bassett  was  super 
seded  in  the  office  of  Provost-Marshal  by  a  Mr.  "W. 
Tool,  who  had  been  up  to  that  period  a  minister  in  the 
M.  E.  Church,  South.  He  had,  however,  apostatized, 
and  joined  the  M.  E.  Church,  Xorth. 

"Mr.  Bassett' s  brief  apprenticeship  in  villainy  fitted 
him  for,  and  he  was  appointed  to,  a  higher  office.  Mr. 
Holliday  was  requested  to  fill  the  pulpit  made  vacant 
by  the  military  prohibition  upon  Rev.  Yvr.  M.  Rush,  of 
St.  Joseph,  and  the  ladies  of  the  church  in  which  Mr. 
Rush  had  been  silenced  waited  on  Provost-Marshal 
Tool  and  requested  permission  for  Mr.  Holliday  to  fill 
the  silent  pulpit.  Mr.  Tool,  who  was  acting  in  the 
interest  of  the  North  Methodists,  refused  to  permit  Mr. 
H.  to  come  to  St.  Joseph  to  preach  the  gospel. 

"  In  September,  1862,  Mr.  Holliday  was  sent  to  Platte 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  355 

City,  and  there  remained  unmolested  until  the  following 
June,  when  soldiers  from  Kansas  took  his  horse,  which 
he  never  saw  afterward.  He  borrowed  another,  which 
was  also  stolen  and  carried  off.  He  thus  lost  two  horses 
in  as  many  weeks. 

"About  the  middle  of  July,  1863,  Col.  Jennison,  of 
Kansas,  went  to  Platte  City  and  burned  the  town.  His 
men  were  ordered  to  shoot  Mr.  Holliday  down  at  sight. 
Knowing  the  character  of  Jennison's  men,  arid  being 
apprised  of  the  order  by  a  Union  man,  Mr.  IT.  made 
good  his  escape,  leaving  his  family  at  Mr.  Redman's. 
On  the  evening  of  his  flght  his  house,  containing  all  that 
he  had  in  the  world,  except  what  the  family  had  on, 
was  given  to  the  flames.  His  family  were  thus  made 
destitute  and  reduced  to  beggary. 

"The  next  day,  at  3  p.  M.,  Mr.  Holliday  was  arrested, 
by  order  of  a  Clinton  county  militia  captain,  and  taken 
to  Plattsburg.  He  was  there  subject  to  some  indigni 
ties,  until  Mr.  Cockrell  informed  Captain  Irvine,  com 
mander  of  the  post,  of  the  facts,  who,  being  a  gentleman 
and  a  Mason,  ordered  the  instant  release  of  Mr.  Holliday. 

"The  next  day  Capt.  Irvine  was  killed  in  an  engage 
ment  with  the  rebels.  This  very  much  enraged  the 
militia,  and  an  order  was  issued  again  to  shoot  Mr.  H. 
on  sight.  He  again  made  his  escape  by  flight  and  con 
cealment.  He  remained  ten  days  at  the  residence  of 
Mr.  Powell,  of  Clinton  county,  but  upon  hearing  of  the 
order  to  shoot  him, he,  with  two  other  ministers,  Messrs. 
Tarwater  and  Jones,  took  refuge  in  the  woods,  and 
made  their  way  on  foot  to  Osborn,  where  Mr.  Holliday 
met  his  family,  and  all  took  the  train  to  Quincy,  111. 
They  remained  in  Illinois  until  the  war  closed,  in  1864, 


356  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

doing  the  best  he  could  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  Re 
turning  to  Missouri  in  1S65,  he  met  the  Conference  at 
Hannibal;  and  was  appointed  to  the  Shelby villo  circuit. 

"  By  this  time  the  New  Constitution  had  been  declared 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  State,  and  under  it  all  min 
isters  of  the  gospel  were  required  to  take  the  iron-clad 
'test  oath'  as  a  qualification  for  the  work  of  the  minis 
try,  or  subject  themselves  to  arrest,  indictment,  fine  or 
imprisonment. 

"Actuated  by  the  same  motives  of  conscience  that 
impelled  all  true  ministers  of  the  gospel,  he  promptly 
refused  to  take  and  subscribe  said  oath.  He  was,  there 
fore,  arrested  and  indicted  by  the  grand  jury  of  Shelby 
county  for  preaching  and  teaching  as  a  minister  of  the 
gospel  without  having,  under  oath,  attested  his  past  and 
present  loyalty  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 
The  said  indictment  bore  the  signatures  of  TVm.  M. 
Boulware,  Circuit  Attorney,  E.  S.  Holliday,  Foreman 
of  Grand  Jury,  and  James  Ralph,  C.  E,.  Colton  and 
"Win.  Colton  as  witnesses.  A  copy  of  the  indictment 
is  in  Mr.  Holliday's  possession,  to  be  handed  down  to 
his  children  as  a  memento  of  his  sufferings  and  triumphs 
in  the  cause  of  his  Master.  It  will  doubtless  make  their 
faith  doubly  strong  in  the  principles  of  that  holy  re 
ligion  for  which  ho  endured  so  much  privation,  persecu 
tion  and  personal  danger. 

"  Mr.  Holliday  was  subsequently  indicted  for  the 
same  oifense,  and  held  in  a  bond  of  8500  for  appearance 
at  the  November  term  of  the  Shelby  Court.  Mr.  M. 
C.  Hawkins,  a  lawyer  of  Canton,  made  an  able  argu 
ment  on  a  motion  to  quash  the  indictment,  which  motion 
was  not  sustained,  and  the  case  was  continued  to  ther 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  357 

ensuing  May  term,  when  a  nolle  pros  equi  was  entered 
and  Mr.  Holliday  released. 

"  The  facts  above  narrated  I  have  received  from  Mr. 
Holliday 's  own  lips.  He  was  so  reticent  of  matters  con 
cerning  himself  personally  that  I  can  not  but  regard  this 
as  a  very  meagre  epitome  of  all  that  he  was  required  to 
do  and  to  suffer  in  the  performance  of  the  work  his 
Master  gave  him  to  do.  He  evidently  is  already  richly 
rewarded  in  the  depths  of  his  own  consciousness,,  and 
justly  decided  that  nothing  man  may  say  for  him  can 
serve  in  the  smallest  degree  to  increase  that  reward. 
"  [Signed]  OREGON  BICHMOND." 

The  persecutions  in  the  early  part  of  the  war  were 
not  without  a  sharp  discrimination  in  favor  of  the  prom 
inent  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  Few  were 
exempt.  The  exceptional  cases  were  either  in  the  large 
cities  or  under  the  protection  of  partisan  loyalty.  For 
some  reason  the  leading  ministers  of  the  Church,  South, 
were  looked  upon  as  the  very  ringleaders  of  the  South 
ern  revolt  against  the  Government.  So  general  was 
this  belief  amongst  the  officers  of  the  Union  army,  that 
whoever  escaped  their  surveillance  had  to  prove  a  nega 
tive  in  the  face  of  the  most  unwarranted  and  unfounded 
presumptions  of  guilt,  supported  and  flanked  by  the 
deepest  rooted  prejudices  and  the  most  blinded  passion. 
Nor  is  this  putting  the  case  too  strongly.  It  is  not  in 
excess  of  the  facts. 

ISTo  matter  how  guarded,  how  prudent,  how  cautious 
in  public  or  private  life,  the  tongue  of  the  accuser 
always  reached  the  official  ear  before  the  accused  was 
aware  of  his  summons  to  the  official  bar. 

That  good  old  maxim  of  the  English  common  law, 


358  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

that  assumed  a  man  to  be  innocent  until  he  was  proven 
to  be  guilty,  was  reversed.  Men  were  assumed  to  be 
guilty,  and  they  had  to  prove  their  innocence  if  they 
could,  or  suffer  the  penalty  of  assumed  guilt. 

And,  indeed,  the  right  of  trial  was  granted  to  but  few. 
Many,  very  many,  suffered  imprisonment  and  death 
without  ever  being  so  much  as  informed  of  the  crime  for 
which  they  suffered. 

The  day  of  eternity  alone  will  reveal  the  nameless 
crimes  which  men  in  authority,  and  men  without  au 
thority,  committed  during  the  late  civil  war.  May  a 
merciful  Providence  forever  spare  the  country  a  repeti 
tion  of  the  horrible  scenes  through  which  it  has  so  re 
cently  passed.  These  reflections  are  suggested  by  the 
murder  of  the 

EEV.  G-REEN  WOODS. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Bellevue, 
Washington  county,  Missouri,  Feb.  27,  1814,  where  he 
grew  up  on  a  farm  in  sight  of  Caledonia. 

He  was  received  on  trial  in  the  Missouri  Annual  Con 
ference  M.E.  Church  in  the  fall  of  1836,  when  the  Con 
ference  was  held  in  St.  Louis,  and  was  appointed  by 
Bishop  Eoberts,  junior  preacher  on  the  Farmington  Cir 
cuit,  with  George  Smith  as  his  senior. 

The  next  year  he  was  returned  by  Bishop  Soule  to 
Farmigton,  with  Alvin  Baird  as  his  senior. 

The  next  year  his  name  does  not  appear  in  the  min 
utes,  nor  does  it  appear  again  until  the  year  1853,  when 
he  rejoined  the  St.  Louis  Conference  and  was  appointed 
by  Bishop  Andrew  to  Cape  Girardeau  and  Jackson. 

In  1854  he  was  appointed  to  Ste.  Genevieve  Circuit, 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  359 

and  at  the  Conference  of  1855,  at  Springfield,  he  was 
received  into  full  connection,  and  returned  to  Ste.  Gen- 
evicve  Circuit,  with  ,T.  II.  dimming  as  junior  preacher. 

It  is  needless  to  follow  his  appointments  in  the  Con 
ference  further  than  to  say  that  everywhere  he  was  well 
received  and  always  well  reported  of  for  good  works. 
He  was  a  diligent  and  faithful  laborer  in  his  Master's 
vineyard,  and  few  men  stood  higher  in  the  estimation 
of  the  people  or  was  more  securely  enthroned  in  their 
affections.  He  was  a  man  of  unblemished  character, 
unswerving  integrity,  unwavering  fidelity,  deep  and 
fervent  piety,  and  of  good  preaching  ability.  He  was 
unobtrusive,  unostentatious,  civil,  courteous,  gentle  and 
kind  to  all  ]  had  many  friends  and  few  enemies — lived 
for  his  work,  and  attended  strictly  to  his  own  business. 
The  last  man  who  would  ever  intermeddle  with  politics 
or  make  himself  officious  or  offensive  to  any  man  or 
party  of  men.  He  had  charity  for  all,  and  malice  for 
none.  This  is  written  by  one  who  knew  him  well,  and 
loved  him  much,  and  was  a  member  of  the  same  class  of 
undergraduates  in  the  Conference. 

AYhen  the  war  broke  out  Mr.  Woods  was  Presiding 
Elder  on  the  Greenville  District,  St.  Louis  Conference; 
was  extensively  known  in  Southern  and  Southeastern 
Missouri,  and  had  been  just  as  extensively  useful.  But 
the  troubles  thickened  so  fast  and  the  country  was  so 
generally  disturbed  and  distracted  that  with  a  heavy 

O  «  t> 

heart  he  gave  up  his  regular  work  on  the  district  and 
contented  himself  with  such  preaching  as  he  could  do 
near  his  home  in  Dent,  county,  while  he  attended  to  the 
cultivation  of  his  little  farm. 

The  following  account  of  the  events  of  1802,  furnished 


360  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

by  his  eldest  daughter;  will  be  read  with  deep  interest, 
as  they  culminate  in  the  awful  tragedy  of  his  murder: 

"  In  the  spring  of  1862  the  excitement  in  the  country 
became  so  intense  that  my  father  could  no  longer  travel 
his  district^  so  he  thought  he  would  stay  at  home  and 
try  to  make  enough  to  support  his  family  on  his  farm. 
As  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  desired  him  to 
preach  to  them,  he  made  an  appointment  to  preach, 
about  three  miles  from  home,  the  second  Sunday  in  May. 
He  filled  this  appointment,  and  announced  another  at 
the  same  place  for  the  second  Sunday  in  June,  Before 
that  time  arrived  he  was  advised  by  some  of  his  friends 
not  to  go  to  his  appointment,  as  they  believed  that  he 
would  be  taken  prisoner,  and  perhaps  killed,  that  day  by 
the  soldiers  if  he  attempted  to  preach.  But  he  told 
them  that  he  would  go  and  preach,  and  if  the  soldiers 
wished  to  arrest  him  they  could  do  so ;  that  if  necessary 
he  could  go  to  jail.  He  said  that  he  did  not  believe  that 
they  would  kill  him,  as  he  had  not  done  anything  to  be 
killed  for. 

A  man  by  the  name  of  Silas  Hamb}^  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  ISTorth,  had  said  some  time  before 
that  no  Southern  Methodist  preacher  should  preach  at 
Mount  Pleasant  again.  But  my  father  thought  it  was 
an  idle  threat,  as  he  had  heard  of  no  preacher  being 
killed  because  he  was  a  preacher. 

"When  Sunday  morning  came,  father  and  my  sister, 
younger  than  myself,  went  to  Mount  Pleasant,  and  he 
pre-iched  to  a  small  congregation — the  people  being 
afraid  to  turn  out  on  account  of  the  soldiers — and  re 
turned  home  the  same  evening  unmolested.  The  next 
morning  he  took  my  sister — just  thirteen — and  two  little 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  361 

boys  he  had  hired,  and  went  out  to  a  field  one  mile  from 
home  to  finish  planting  corn.  While  they  were  at  work 
the  mother  of  the  boys  came  by  the  field  on  her  way  to 
our  house.  She  saw  that  they  were  nearly  done,  so  she 
thought  she  would  wait  till  they  finished  and  come  along 
with  them.  By  this  means  there  was  one  grown  person 
present  to  witness  his  arrest.  I  think  it  was  about  the 
middle  of  the  forenoon  of  that  Monday,  June  9,  1862, 
when  sixteen  men,  armed  and  uniformed  as  Federal 
soldiers,  came  to  our  house  and  surrounded  it.  They 
inquired  for  father.  Mother  told  them  that  he  was  not 
at  home,  but  out  in  the  field  (father  told  her  if  they 
came  and  called  for  him,  to  tell  them  where  he 
was).  They  made  a  general  search,  and  then  huddled 
up  out  in  the  yard  and  held  a  council  a  few  minutes. 
Five  of  them  were  sent  to  the  field,  and  while  they  were 
gone  those  at  the  house  were  stealing  everything  they 
could  get  their  hands  on  that  belonged  to  father,  leaving 
very  few  things  behind. 

"  When  the  five  soldiers  got  to  the  field  father  was 
not  quite  done  planting.  They  rode  up  and  asked  if  his 
name  was  Green  Woods;  he  told  them  it  was.  They 
told  him  that  he  was  the  man  they  were  after,  and 
ordered  him  to  alight  over  the  fence.  lie  asked  them 
if  they  would  riot  wait  until  he  could  finish  planting,  as 
he  had  then  but  a  few  short  rows;  but  they  told  him, 
with  an  oath,  that  they  were  in  a  hurry,  and  kept  hur 
rying  him  while  he  was  getting  his  horse  ready  to  start. 
When  they  started  from  the  field  my  sister  asked  them 
what  they  intended  to  do  with  father.  They  told  her, 
with  an  oath,  that  it  was  uncertain  where  he  would  get 
to  before  he  came  back.  They  brought  him  to  tho 


362  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

house  and  allowed  him  to  eat  his  dinner.  But  when  he 
went  to  dress  himself,  he  could  not  find  a  change  of 
clothes,  as  the  soldiers  had  taken  all  that  he  had,  and 
would  not  even  give  him  his  pants  and  hat.  They  took 
him  about  three  miles  from  home,  to  a  man's  house  by 
the  name  of  Jones,  and  pretended  to  get  evidence  against 
him.  (This  was  north-west  from  where  we  live).  They 
then  took  him  about  three  miles  from  home,  to  where  a 
man  lived  named  Peter  Skiles,  who  kept  a  blacksmith's 
shop.  They  stopped  and  staid  there  awhile,  and 
searched  the  house,  as  Skiles  was  a  Southern  man. 
They  then  took  father  about  half  a  mile  and  killed  him, 
and  left  him  lying  out  in  the  woods  away  from  the  road 
— no  one  knew  where  except  those  who  placed  him 
there.  Two  guns  were  heard  after  the  soldiers  left 
Skiles'. 

"This  was  done  on  Monday,  and  his  body  was  not 
found  till  the  next  Monday.  We  did  not  know  that  he 
was  killed  until  his  body  was  found.  When  found  he 
was  lying  on  his  back  with  his  overcoat  spread  on  the 
ground  under  him ;  one  arm  was  stretched  out  one  way, 
and  the  other  stretched  out  the  other  way,  his  hat  drawn 
down  over  his  face,  his  coat  and  vest  and  left  glove  ly 
ing  on  the  ground  near  him,  his  right  glove  on,  his  left 
shirt  sleeve  torn  off,  and  his  left  hand  off  and  gone.  He 
seemed  to  have  been  dragged  some  two  or  three  hundred 
yards  before  he  was  shot,  as  there  was  but  little  blood 
along  the  trail,  and  was  found  as  above  described  near 
a  large  tree  and  among  some  low  bushes. 

o  o 

"  We  have  heard  several  times  that  the  Northern 
Methodist  presiding  elder,  by  the  name  of  Ing,  sent  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  363 

men  to  kill  my  father.  I  have  given  you  the  substance 
of  what  we  know  of  father's  death. 

(Signed)  "  JOSEPHINE  M.  A.  M.  WOODS, 

"Eldest  Daughter, 
"E.   A.   WOODS,  Wife,  and 
"MARY  LOUISA,  Daughter  of 

"Rev.  Green  Woods." 

Mrs.  Woods  furnishes  the  following  additional  par 
ticulars  : 

"While  eating  his  dinner  the  soldiers  asked  him  if  ho 

O 

did  not  think  he  ought  to  have  taken  the  oath — meaning 
the  oath  of  allegiance  which  all  citizens  were  required 
to  take.  lie  replied  that  he  would  he  candid  with  them, 
as  he  tried  to  be  with  all  men;  that  it  afforded  no  pro 
tection,  as  only  the  day  before  the  soldiers  had  been 
taking  the  property  and  breaking  the  guns  of  those  who 
had  taken  the  oath,  and  he  could  not  see  that  the  oath 
had  profited  them  any.  They  hurried  him  much  to 
finish  his  dinner.  He  asked  them  for  his  hat,  which 
they  refused  to  give  him.  lie  said  that  he  would  then 
wear  his  old  one,  and  be  with  his  equals — meaning  that 
he  was  about  as  near  worn  out  as  his  hat. 

"Thinking  that  it  might  have  some  good  effect  upon 
the  soldiers,  I  reminded  him,  in  their  presence,  that  the 
meal  was  out,  and  asked  what  I  must  do,  now  that  he 
was  going  away.  He  replied,  'the  Lord  will  provide/ 
And,  so  far,  it  is  literally  true;  the  Lord  has  been  merci 
ful  to  give  us  our  daily  bread,  as  we  have  never  had  a 
single  meal  without  bread. 

& 

"  When  he  started  he  told  me  to  do  the  best  I  could, 
and  seemed  to  have  a  presentment  that  he  would  never 
return. 


364  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

"On  the  way  that  evening  he  was  stopped  at  the 
house  of  Dr.  Boyd.  While  there  he  said  to  Mrs.  Boyd, 
'Tell  Mrs  Woods  that  you  saw  me  here.'  Mrs.  Boyd 
also  heard  him  tell  the  soldiers  to  hurry  up  and  take  him 
wherever  they  intended  to  take  him ;  that  they  would 
keep  him  in  the  hot  sun  till  he  would  be  down  sick. 
They  replied  that  they  had  a  good  doctor.  He  had  been 
very  sick  only  a  short  time  before.  It  was  his  custom 
to  hold  family  worship  night  and  morning,  no  matter 
what  else  was  to  do.  The  last  day  of  his  life  he  read 
for  the  morning  lesson  the  thirty-seventh  Psalm." 

Strenuous  efforts  have  been  made  to  obtain  the  names 
of  the  guilty  parties,  with  but  little  success.  The  fol 
lowing  statement  is  the  latest  and  most  reliable : 

"A  man  by  the  name  of  Dennis  was  the  pilot,  and  it 
is  said  helped  do  the  shooting.  A  man  named  Wells 
was  in  the  company.  We  can  not  give  the  first  names 
of  either  of  these  men  now,  but  have  the  promise  of 
them. 

e{  A  young  man  named  Bill  Fudge,  the  son  of  North 
Methodists  who  were  once  members  of  the  Southern 
Methodist  Church,  and  another  named  Harrison  Batliff, 
it  is  said,  helped  commit  the  murder." 

To  the  question,  "  What  evidence  have  you  that  Ing, 
the  North  Methodist  presiding  elder,  sent  the  men  to 
commit  the  murder?"  the  following  reply  was  furnished  : 

"All  the  evidence  we  have  that  Ing  sent  the  men  is, 
that  he  was  their  commander  at  the  time ;  and  it  has 
been  told,  by  those  who  said  they  saw  it,  that  father's 
hand  was  carried  to  Ing  as  proof  that  they  had  killed 
him,  and  that  he  still  had  it  in  his  possession  a  year  or 
two  ago. 

«  Eespectfully,  JOSIE  M.  A.  M.  WOODS." 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  365 

When  Mr.  Woods'  dead  body  was  found,  "his  left 
hand  was  off  and  gone."  Common  rumor  in  the  com 
munity,  and  the  statement  of  several  reliable  gentlemen 
— which  may  hereafter  be  given — go  to  confirm  this 
horrible  and  savage  report  about  the  hand. 

The  following  account  of  the  affair  was  published  in 
the  St.  Louis  Christian  Advocate,  of  June  13,  1866,  and 
signed  "  B./'  of  Crawford  county  : 

"BEV.  GREEN  WOODS. — Mr.  Editor:  In  the  letter  of 
your  California  correspondent,  in  last  week's  Advocate, 
the  names  of  several  ministers  formerly  connected  with 
the  St.  Louis  Conference  are  mentioned  with  that  of  the 
lamented  Green  Woods,  who  the  writer  too  truly 
mentions  as  having  been  cruelly  murdered  in  the  sum 
mer  of  1862.  And,  as  the  writer  of  this  sketch  had 
known  the  deceased  for  many  years,  and  was  living  in 
an  adjoining  county  at  the  time  the  cruel  murder  was 
committed,  he  may  be  able  to  furnish  some  facts  relative 
thereto  that  would  interest  his  many  friends  and  ac 
quaintances  of  by-gone  days.  He  was  at  the  time  (1862) 
living  at  his  home,  in  Dent  county,  Mo.,  on  a  little  farm 
that  he  was  quietly  cultivating  with  his  own  hands,  and 
had  been  guilty  of  no  other  offense  that  that  of  preach 
ing  through  the  county  in  which  he  lived  every  Sunday, 
and  oftener  as  he  found  opportunity.  And,  at  the  time 
he  was  torn  from  his  weeping  wife  and  little  ones,  he 
was  at  home  plowing  in  his  field,  when  suddenly  he  was 
surrounded  by  men  wearing  the  uniform  of  soldiers,  and 
hailing  from  Kansas — regular  <  Jaykawkers/  How 
many  broken-hearted  wives  and  mothers,  and  destitute 
orphan  children,  throughout  Missouri  will  have  cause 
to  remember  these  cruel  <  Kansas  Jayhawkers !'  The 


366  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

cruel  assassination  of  loved  husbands  and  fathers;  the 
burnt  and  blasted  homesteads,  where  lonely  chimneys 
only  are  left  to  tell  the  tale  of  once  happy  and  contented 
households  now  scattered  and  torn  by  the  ruthless  storm 
of  war  in  the  wake  of  these  Kansas  desperadoes.  Truly 
the  fate  of  Missouri  has  been  hard;  and  of  many  it  may 
be  said  they  are  strangers  in  their  own  land. 

"When  informed  by  them  that  he  must  go  with  them 
as  a  prisoner,  and  probably  knowing  from  the  fate  of 
others  what  he  might  expect  of  them,  he  told  them  that 
he  had  violated  no  law,,  that  he  was  a  minister  of  the 
Methodist  Church,  South,  and  that  if  they  intended  to 
kill  him,  he  was  not  afraid  to  die.  Then  taking,  as  he 
well  believed,  a  sad  and  final  farewell  of  his  wife  and 
little  children,  he  started  with  his  captors  to  the  town 
of  Salem,  as  he  thought.  But,  alas !  what  must  have 
been  the  agony  of  the  fond  wife  when  she  learned,  seve 
ral  days  afterward,  that  he  had  not  been  taken  to  Salem 
at  all !  Diligent  search  but  confirmed  her  worst  fears. 
He  had  been  taken  about  two  miles  from  home  by  the 
road  side  and  shot.  There  the  mortal  remains  of  Green 
Woods  were  found — a  cold  and  lifeless  corpse — with  the 
fatal  bullet  shot  through  the  head. 

"In  contemplating  such  a  scene  as  this,  how  the  heart 
saddens  and  sickens  to  know  that  humble  and  devoted 
ministers  of  the  cross  are  put  to  death  for  no  other  cause 
than  that  of  being  ministers  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South. 
Is  it  because  that  Church  has  been,  and  still  is,  in  the 
way  of  those  who  profess  to  have  all  the  piety,  loyalty 
and  religion  in  the  land,  that  its  members  and  ministers 
are  specially  denounced,  proscribed  and  persecuted,  and 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  367 

are  the  marks  of  special  vengeance  for  every  gang  of 
raiding  soldiers  that  chance  to  come  into  Missouri? 

"I  am  credibly  informed  that  the  deceased  had  never 
taken  any  part  in  the  excitement  growing  out  of  the 
war  up  to  that  time  ;  that  he  had  never  mentioned 
politics  in  the  pulpit,  and  had  never  left  home  on  account 
of  the  troubles  during  all  the  dark  days  of  '61  and  '62. 

"liev.  Green  "Woods  was  a  native  of  Missouri,  and 
through  many  portions  of  Southern  and  Southeastern 
Missouri  will  he  be  remembered,  as  his  powerful  and 
eloquent  voice  echoed  and  died  away  upon  the  gently 
murmuring  breezes  of  his  native  hills  and  vales  in  call- 

O 

i-ng  sinners  to  repentance.  But  he  now  sleeps  the  long 
sleep  of  death.  That  clarion  voice  is  now  silent,  and 
will  no  more  be  heard  on  earth  proclaiming  the  good 
news  arid  glad  tidings  of  salvation  which  shall  be  unto 
all  people.  But  we  close,  and  drop  a  silent  tear  to  his 
memory;  knowing  that  He  who  holdeth  the  earth  in 
the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  who  numbereth  the  very 
hairs  of  our  heads,  doeth  all  things  well. 

"We  have  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  religion  he 
so  long  and  faithfully  preached  to  others  sustained  him 
in  the  last  trying  hour;  and  in  the  great  day,  when  all 
mankind  shall  stand  forth  to  be  judged  according  to  the 
deeds  done  in  the  body,  many  will  rise  up  and  call  him 
blessed.  R-" 

Thus  passed  away,  by  the  hand  of  violence,  one  of  the 
excellent  of  the  earth,  "of  whom  the  world  was  not 
worthy."  A  faithful  witness  for  the  word  of  God  and 
the  testimony  of  Jesus,  having  committed  no  offense 
against  the  laws  of  God  or  man,  he  fell  a  martyr  to  the 
truth;  gave  his  life  for  a  principle  and  a  cause,  and 


368  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

offered  himse.f  upon  the  service  and  sacrifice  of  his 
chosen  Church,  and  the  faith  she  vindicates  in  his  death, 
and  ascended  the  thrones  of  martyrdom,  to  await,  with 
the  martyrs  of  all  ages,  the  final  and  glorious  triumph 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Messiah,  in  whose  service  he  counted 
not  his  life  dear  unto  himself.  It  is  a  grand  thought 
that  Infinite  Goodness  and  Power  has  ordained  that 
"  Christ  must  reign  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under 
his  feet."  "Then  cometh  the  end."  "Even  so:  come 
Lord  Jesus." 


MARTYRDOM     IX     MISSOURI.  3(30 


CHAPTER    XX. 

REVS.  A.    MONROE,  W.  M.  RUSH,  NATHANIEL  WOLLARD. 

Rev.  A.  Hfonroe.  the  Patriarch  of  Missouri  Methodism— A  ^e.  Honor  and 

Sanctity  not  Exempt  from  Profanation — Mr.  Monroe  and  his  Wile 
Arrested  in  Fayctte — .Mrs.  Monroe's  Trials  and  Witty  Retorts — How 
Mr.  Monroe  Escaped  the  Bond — Rohhed  of  Everything  by  Kansas 
Soldiers  in  ISlil  —  An  Old  Man  Without  his  Mittens — A  Tower  of 
Strength— "Our  Moses ''—Calls  the  Palmyra  Convention— /fry.  W. 
l\r.  Rush  —  The  Character  of  Missouri  Preachers — A  Native 
Missourian — Settles  in  Chillicothe — In  St.  .Joseph  the  First  Year  of 
the  War — Caution  in  Public  Worship — An  Offensive  Prayer  by 
Rev.  "W.  C.  Toole — General  Loan  Closes  the  Church  and  J /eposes 
Mr.  Pxiish  from  the  Ministry  by  Military  Order— General  W.  P. 
Hall  vs.  Mr.  Rush— Hal!  Publishes  a  Letter  that  Denies  Mr.  Kush 
Protection,  and  Ivxposes  him  to  Assassination  — Mr.  I'u-h  Returns 
to  Chillicothe— His  llou-e  a  Stable  and  his  Home  a  Devolution  — 
Bold  Attempt  to  Assassinate  him — Correspondence  with  General 
Llall — Goes  to  St.  Louis — Masonic  Endorsement — Fn  Charge  of  the 
Mound  Church  —  Will  Hear  of  Him  Attain — Rev.  Nathaniel  Woi- 
Inrd  Murdered  in  Dallas  Count}' — Horrible  Details — Particulars — 
Reflections. 

PIEV.  ANDREW  MONROE. 

Even  this  venerable  and  honored  servant  of  God — 
now  the  Patriarch  of  Missouri  Methodism — was  not  ex 
empt  from  trials  and  troubles  during  the  late  war.  If 
a  venerable  form,  erect  and  majestic;  grey  locks,  long 
and  flowing;  lol'ly  mien;  benign  and  saintly  •  a  pure  life, 
long  and  useful ;  an  honored  name,  associated  with  the 
history  of  the  good  and  pure  in  the  State;  saintly  be 
neficence,  sanctified  to  the  highest  purposes  of  the  gos 
pel,  and  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit  diffused  through  the 
toil,  and  suffering,  and  labor,  and  triumphs  of  half  a  cen 
tury  in  the  ministry  could  disarm  malice,  awe  the  pas 
sions  into  reverence,  break  the  force  of  prejudice  and 
24 


370  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

shield  the  person  and  property,  the  home  and  happiness, 
the  liberty  and  life  from  vicious  violation  and  petty 
profanation,  then  Andrew  Monroe  had  lived  in  peace 
unmolested,  and  liis  humble  house,  a  freeman's  sacred 
castle,  been  secure  from  the  tread  of  vandalism  and  the 
hand  of  plunder.  But  no  altar  was  too  sacred,  no  home 
too  pure,  no  name  too  greatly  reverenced  and  no  life 
too  pure  and  holy  to  deter  the  invader  or  wither  the 
sacrilegious  hand  of  the  spoiler.  Meanness  was  not  an 
incident  of  the  war,  and  sacrilege  was  not  confined  to 
Mexican  guerrillas.  Men  are  naturally  mean,  and  de 
pravity  is  a  fact  of  human  nature.  JSTor  did  the  war  make 
thieves,  and  robbers,  and  murderers,  and  highwaymen  ; 
they  were  such  before,  the  occasion  only  was  wanting. 
The  sunbeam  does  not  create,  it  only  reveals  the  motes 
in  the  atmosphere.  The  war  furnished  the  occasion  ana 
unveiled  the  meanness  of  men  ;  the  pure  gospel  ministry 
rebuked  it,  and,  naturally  enough,  provoked  its  malice 
and  became  its  victim.  Even  Andrew  Monroe.,  the  noble 
old  Roman,  could  not  escape. 

In  the  winter  of  1862  the  Rev.  A.  Monroe  was  travel 
ing  the  Fayette  Circuit,  Missouri  Conference  M.  E. 
Church,  South,  and  living  in  the  town  of  Fayette,  How 
ard  county.  Fayette,  like  all  other  towns  of  importance 
in  the  State,  was  a  military  post,  with  one  Major  Hub- 
bard  in  command. 

One  day  of  that  winter  Mr.  Monroe  and  his  family 
were  surprised  by  the  appearance  of  a  Federal  officer 
and  a  squad  of  men  entering  his  humble  home,  placing 
him  and  his  wife  under  arrest,  and  marching  them  off 
to  headquarters,  for  what  offense  they  never  knew. 

The  soldiers  had  arrested  many  other  ladies  and  gen- 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  371 

tlemcn  at  the  same  time,  and  they  had  plenty  of  com 
pany  when  they  reached  headquarters,  amongst  whom 
was  the  Eev.  Dr.  W.  II.  Anderson,  then  President  of 
Central  College. 

When  Major  Hubbard  came  in  and  saw  the  number 
of  ladies  present  under  arrest  he  affected  surprise,  and 
said  that  he  had  not  ordered  their  arrest;  that  his  subal 
terns  had  transcended  his  orders,  and  at  once  informed 
the  ladies  that  they  were  released,  remarking  at  the 
same  time  that  when  he  wished  to  sec  them  he  would  not 
send  for  them,  but  do  himself  the  pleasure  of  calling  at 
their  homes.  To  which  Mrs.  Monroe  promptly  replied 
that  she  was  obliged  to  him  for  releasing  them  so  early, 
but  as  for  seeing  him,  she  had  no  desire  whatever  to  see 
him  at  her  house  or  anywhere  else. 

Many  a  true  and  modest  woman  had  occasion  during 
those  troublous  times  to  call  upon  her  ready  wit  to  reply 
to  the  various  impertinent  inquiries  and  demands  of  a 
ruffian  soldiery;  and  while  Mrs.  Monroe  was  surprised 
at  her  own  courage,  her  indignation  was  somewhat  ap 
peased  when  she  observed  the  cutting  effect  of  her 
retort.  Not  many  days  afterward  she  had  occasion 
again  for  her  ready  wit  and  her  Christian  fortitude  and 
forbearance.  Very  early  in  the  morning  five  soldiers 
called  and  demanded  breakfast.  Mr.  Monroe  was  at 
home,  but  he  soon  retreated  from  the  front  door  and 
called  upon  his  wife  to  meet  the  issue.  She  had  no 
help,  and  the  idea  of  cooking  for  so  many,  and  these, 
too,  whom  she  believed  to  be  her  enemies,  and  who 
would  not  hesitate  to  do  her  any  injury,  was  very  re 
pulsive.  But  to  get  rid  of  them  was  a  difficult  question, 
as  many  ladies  know.  By  the  time  she  reached  the 


372  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

front  door  and  heard  their  request  her  answer  was  ready. 
She  replied,  "  My  Bible  teaches  me,  <  If  thine  enemy 
hunger,  feed  him ;  if  he  thirst,  give  him  drink ;'  upon 
these  terms  and  no  other  you  can  get  breakfast."  To 
her  surprise  one  of  them  said,  "Madam,  we  will  accept 
breakfast  upon  those  terms,  for  I  profess  to  be  some 
what  acquainted  with  the  Bible."  She  thought  they 
would  turn  and  go  away  in  a  rage,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
she  had  to  turn  and  get  breakfast  for  "  her  enemies  " 
with  the  best  grace  she  could. 

It  turned  out  that  the  spokesman  was  a  local  preacher 
in  the  Northern  Methodist  Church,  and  at  the  table  he 
remarked  to  Mrs.  Monroe  that  his  father  was  as  great  a 
rebel  as  she  was.  To  which  she  replied,  that  it  was  a 
thousand  pities  that  he  had  so  far  departed  from  the 
ways  of  his  father  as  to  be  a  degenerate  son  of  an  hon 
ored  sire.  Whereupon  he  said,  "As  a  loyal  man,  I 
would  hate  awfully  to  have  to  live  with  such  a  rebel. 
Gen.  Price  could  well  afford  to  issue  a  commission  to 
you,  madam." 

Not  many  days  after  this  Mr.  Monroe  was  just  ready 
to  mount  his  horse  one  morning  for  a  tour  of  appoint 
ments  in  the  country,  when  a  soldier  appeared  with 
orders  to  arrest  him  and  take  him  to  the  headquarters 
of  Capt.  Hale,  then  commanding  the  post.  The  vener 
able  man  of  God  was  then  marched  up  to  headquarters 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  and  required  to  take  the 
military  oatb,  (so-called),  and  give  bond,  with  good  se 
curity,  for  his  future  loyalty  to  the  Government,  and  for 
the  loyalty  and  good  order  of  his  family,  the  Captain 
remarking  that  "  the  secesh  talk  of  the  women  of  his 
family  should  be  stopped."  Mr.  Monroe  replied  that 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  373 

he  could  take  the  oath  if  he  would  then  let  him  ^o  ahout 

& 

his  Master's  work,,  but  as  for  the  bond,  he  must  excuse 
him,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  involve  bis  friends  and  be 
had  but  little  property.  If  it  was  his  little  property  be 
was  after,  bo  might  as  well  go  and  take  charge  of  tbat  at 
once  and  let  bini  go  about  bis  business.  Tbc  Captain 
saw  the  point  and  told  him  to  take  the  oath  then  and 
"go  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

"In  1804  Mr.  Monroe  was  living  on  a  farm  about 
eight  miles  from  Glasgow,  in  Howard  county,  when 
General  Price  made  his  famous  raid  into  Central  Mis 
souri,  and  took  Glasgow  amongst  other  places.  The 
day  before  the  battle  of  Glasgow  Mr.  Monroe  was  out 
in  a  field  on  his  little  farm,  and  his  family  all  away  from 
home  except  a  servant,  when  a  company  of  Kansas 
soldiers  passing  along  the  road  halted,  entered  the  house 
and  robbed  it  of  everything  of  value  they  could  find. 
The  house  was  literally  pillaged.  Mr.  Monroe's  watch, 
a  fine  cloth  coat,  several  pairs  of  bed-blankets,  quilts, 
comforts,  and,  indeed,  everything  of  any  value  to  them. 
While  thus  engaged  they  saw  a  young  man  who  lived, 
near  approaching  the  house,  all  unconscious  of  what  was 
going  on.  He  was  arrested  and  relieved  of  all  his 
money,  $75.  One  rough-looking  Dutch  soldier  rode  out 
to  the  field  and  accosted  the  venerable  man  with  an 
imperative  demand  for  his  money.  When  he  found  that 
he  had  but  two  dollars  in  the  world,  he  would  not  take 
it,  but  rode  back  in  disgust.  A  young  man — Mr.  Mon 
roe's  nephew — was  met  near  the  house  on  his  uncle's 
only  riding  horse,  with  his  only  saddle  and  bridle.  The 
young  man  was  arrested,  and  the  horse  and  equipments 
taken  to  Glasgow  and  never  heard  from  afterward. 


374  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Thus,  in  one  single  hour,  the  venerable  servant  of 
God  stood  alone  in  his  field,  stripped  of  everything  he 
}ia(] — horse,  watch,  clothes,  blankets,  bedding — every 
thing  of  value.  What  must  have  been  the  feelings  of 
Mrs.  Monroe  on  returning  home,  after  an  absence  of 
just  one  hour,  to  find  her  house  plundered  by  a  ruifian 
soldiery,  and  her  husband  beggared.  To  complete  the 
work,  a  small  squad  of  soldiers  passed  along  soon  after 
ward,  and  when  they  could  find  nothing  else  to  steal 
or  appropriate,  a  rough,  drunken  Dutchman  demanded 
of  the  old  man  his  woolen  mittens,  which  a  lady  had 
but  recently  given  him.  He  gave  them  up,  and  con 
sidered  himself  fortunate  to  get  oif  so  easy. 

With  such  petty  annoyances,  involving  privation  and 
suffering,  this  faithful  minister  of  the  gospel—this  pioneer 
and  patriarch  of  Missouri  Methodism — passed  through 
the  dark  and  trying  scenes  of  the  late  civil  war,  always 
hopeful  and  joyful,  and  ready  to  rejoice  that  he  was 
counted  worthy  to  suffer  for  a  cause  of  which  himself 
was  the  finest  type,  and  a  principle  to  maintain  which  he 
was  willing  to  go  even  to  prison  and  to  death.  To  the 
struggling  cause  of  Christ  and  his  suffering  friends  he 
was  a  tower  of  strength,  to  the  discomfited  and  dis 
heartened  hosts  of  the  Methodist  Israel,  he  was  "  our 
Moses."  When  " these  calamities  were  overpassed/' 
and  the  shock  of  war  had  expended  its  fire  and  force — • 
when  the  smoke  of  battle  cleared  away,  and  the  storm- 
cloud  hung  low  upon  the  horizon,  he  surveyed  the  field, 
marked  the  desolation,  measured  the  extent  of  the 
wreck,  discovered  some  remains  of  Zion's  former  beauty, 
while  others,  with  indecent  haste,  sounded  her  funeral 
knell  \  and  his  voice,  like  that  of  a  mighty  chieftain,  was 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  375 

heard  over  the  prairies,  along  the  railroads  and  in  the 
cities  of  Missouri,  calling  the  faithful  to  duty,  and  rally 
ing  the  scattered  forces  for  counsel.  Upon  his  call  a 
few  ministers  and  friends  convened  in  Palmyra,  in  June, 
18G5,  and  decreed  the  life  of  the  Church,  the  resuscita 
tion  of  her  vital  powers,  the  recovery  of  her  lost  ground, 
and  the  rehabilitation  of  her  distinctive  institutions  and 
organs.  (See  the  particulars  of  this  Palmyra  meeting 
in  its  appropriate  place.) 

REV.  W.  M.  RUSH. 

Few  men  suffered  earlier,  or  more,  than  the  subject 
of  this  notice.  For  many  years  the  name  of  the  Rev. 
W.  M.  Rush  has  been  conspicuous  on  the  rolls  of  Mis 
souri  Methodism.  Prominent  amongst  her  ablest  and 
truest  ministers  and  foremost  in  her  aggressive  evan 
gelism,  he  has  stood  through  many  years  of  her  history. 
Identified  with  her  early  struggles  and  a  faithful  laborer 
upon  her  broad  foundations,  he  has  grown  with  her 
growth  and  strengthened  with  her  strength,  until  his 
life  and  her  history  are  one.  Few  men  have  been  more 
conspicuous  in  her  councils  or  more  distinguished  in 
her  fields  of  labor  and  conflict.  The  class-mate  of  Mar 
vin,  the  senior  and  compeer  of  Caples,  the  companion 
of  Monroe,  and  Jordan,  and  Smith,  and  Eads,  and  John 
son,  and  Redman,  and  the  noble  band  of  Methodist 
pioneers  and  patriots,  his  name  will  adorn  the  early 
annals  of  the  Church,  as  it  will  illustrate  her  later  per 
secutions. 

Mr.  Rush  docs  not  care  to  conceal  the  fact  that  he  is 
a  native  of  Missouri.  lie  was  converted  to  God  July 
8th,  1838,  and  united  with  the  Methodist  Church  the 


376  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

following  August.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  Sept., 
1841,  and  was  admitted  on  trial  in  the  Conference  the 
following  October;  at  Palmyra,  Bishop  Morris  presiding 
and  W.  W.  Redman  acting  as  Secretary.  He  has  ever 
been,  since  that  date,  an  effective  itinerant  preacher — 
never  sustained  any  other  relation  to  the  Conference. 

While  traveling  the  Brunswick  district,  in  1856,  and 
by  the  advice  of  Bishop  Pierce,  he  made  arrangements 
to  settle  his  family  in  a  permanent  home,  and  selected 
Chillicothe,  Livingston  county,  as  the  most  central  and 
suitable  location.  He  purchased  eligible  lots,  with  land 
adjoining  the  town,  and  erected  an  excellent  and  com 
modious  residence  for  his  large  family.  He  also  im 
proved,,  furnished  and  stocked  his  adjoining  lands  to 
make  them  productive.  Here  he  settled  his  family  and 
remained  until  1860,  when  he  was  appointed  to  St. 
Joseph  station,  and  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  lease 
out  his  propert}r  in  Chillicothe  and  move  his  family  to 
St.  Joseph,  where  he  was  living  when  the  war  broke 
out  in  1861.  He  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  neces 
sity  of  caution  and  prudence  in  the  conduct  of  his  pulpit 
and  public  services,  as  the  people  to  whom  he  ministered 
were  divided  on  the  questions  at  issue  in  the  war.  He 
was  so  careful  not  to  give  offense  to  any  that  he  framed 
a  somewhat  formal  prayer  to  be  used  in  public  services 
touching  the  troubles  of  the  country. 

It  was  about  as  follows  :  "  O  Thou,  who  art  infinite  in 
wisdom,  in  goodness  and  in  power,  WTC  pray  thee  so  to 
direct  in  the  affairs  of  this  country,  that  the  events  that 
are  now  transpiring  may  all  result  for  thy  glory  and 
the  we.l  being  of  humanity.  We  pray  that  those  in 
authority  may  have  wisdom  to  direct  them  in  adopting 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  377 

such  measures  as  shall  be  promotive  of  the  best  interests 
of  all  the  people." 

To  this  form  of  prayer  and  the  sentiments  it  contained 
he  thought  all  good  citizens  of  either  parly  could  say, 
Amen,  lie  carefully  abstained  from  every  expression 
that  would  be  offensive  to  the  sectional  feelings  and 
views  of  any  of  his  congregation.  In  this  he  was  par 
ticular,  and,  he  thought,  successful.  .Matters  passed  on 
well  enough  until  early  in  February,,  1S(»2,  when,  after 
preaching  on  Sabbath,  he  called  on  the  Iiev.  AV.  C. 
Toole,  a  local  preacher,  to  close  the  service  with  prayer, 
lie  was  a  strong  partisan,  and  his  hmguage  in  the  prayer 
was  extremely  bitter  toward  those  in  rebellion  against 
the  Government.  Though  the  congregation  was  much 
divided  in  sentiment,  they  were  at  peace  among  them 
selves.  This  prayer  was  like  a  firebrand.  It  excited  a 
good  deal  of  feeling,  and  people  of  opposite1  views  thought 
it  much  out  of  place.  Upon  reflection  and  consultation 
with  his  leading  brethren,  he  determined  thereafter  to 
close  his  own  services  with  prayer,  which  ministers 
should  always  do  unless  other  ministers  are  present  and 
in  the  pulpit.  He  pursued  this  course  but  one  Sabbath 
afterward,  a-ml  then  a  brother  minister,  the  Ivcv.  S.  W. 
Cope,  preached  for  him,  when,  during  the  week  follow 
ing,  Brigadier-General  B.  F.  Loan,  then  in  command, 
sent  for  Mr.  Hush  to  report  himself  at  his  headquarters. 
This  he  did,  and  Gen.  Loah  told  him  that  he  had  con 
cluded  to  close  his  church.  Mr.  Iiush  asked  him  on  what 
account.  He  replied,  " Because  of  disloyalty."  He 
was  then  asked  in  what  respects  they  were  disloyal, 
and  answered  that  he  was  informed  that  a  prayer  for 
the  Government  could  not  be  offered  in  that  church 
without  giving  offense. 


378  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

The  whole  matter  of  the  prayer  of  Mr.  Toole  and  the 
general  character  of  the  service  were  then  explained  to 
Gen.  Loan.  Mr.  Rush  was  careful  to  give  the  reasons 
for  avoiding  the  introduction  of  anything  savoring  of 
sectional  views  into  the  public  service  ;  that  they  could 
not  settle  the  troubles  of  the  country  in  the  church  ser 
vice;  that  such  an  effort  would  only  destroy  the  peace 
of  the  church  without  in  the  least  benefiting  the 
country ;  that  no  prayer  savoring  of  secession  had  ever 
been  offered  in  the  church  or  would  be  tolerated  on  any 
account;  that  the  course  pursued  was  the  only  proper 
one;  and  that  if  all  the  churches  in  the  land  would  at 
tend  to  their  appropriate  work  and  let  politics  alone  it 
would  be  far  better  for  the  country.  To  all  of  this  the 
General  replied  that  the  time  had  come  when  there  must 
be  a  distinction  in  the  churches  between  patriots  and 
traitors.  Mr.  Rush  told  him  that  he  could  not  discrimi 
nate  in  his  church  on  account  of  political  opinions;  that 
he  had  been  in  the  ministry  more  than  twenty-five  years, 
and  in  all  that  time  he  had  not  in. a  single  instance,  in 
prayer  or  sermon,  given  utterance  to  a  word  or  sentence 
by  which  his  opinions  could  be  known  upon  any  politi 
cal  questions  at  issue  before  the  country,  and  that  he  did 
not  expect  in  the  future  to  depart  from  that  course. 
He  replied  that  his  mind  was  made  up  to  close  the 
church.  The  interview  ended,  and  the  church  was 
closed. 

Soon  afterward  the  General  directed  a  special  order 
to  be  issued  forbidding  Mr.  Rush  from  preaching  or  con 
ducting  any  kind  of  religious  service  within  the  bounds 
of  his  military  district.  Thus  he  was  silenced — deposed 
from  the  ministry,  and  his  ordination  credentials  revoked 


MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI.  279 

by  a  military  satrap.  An  ambassador  for  God  stricken 
down  by  one  stroke  of  a  pen  to  which  bayonets  im 
parted  power  !  A  messenger  of  salvation  to  dying  men 
silenced  by  the  caprice  of  shoulder-straps,  and  one  to 
whom  the  risen  Messiah  by  his  spirit  said,  «  Go  into  all 
the  world  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature/' 
suspended  from  his  divine  commission  by  the  decree  of 
human  power  !  A  "legate  of  the  skies"  at  the  feet  of 
a  miserable  specimen  of  human  weakness  clothed  with 
a  little  brief  authority  !  Impious  presumption  !  equaled 
only  by  sacrilegious  contumely  and  prurient  vanity. 

After  Gen.  Loan  was  dismissed  from  the  military  ser 
vice  by  Gov.  Gamble,  and  Gen.  TV7.  P.  Hull  had  succeeded 
him  in  command  of  the  district,  Mr.  Hush  addressed  a 
note  to  Gen.  Hall,  calling  his  attention  to  the  order  of 
Gen.  Loan,  and  asking  its  revocation.  Mr.  Rush  hoped 
for  much  consideration  at  the  hands  of  Gen.  Hall  from 
a  somewhat  intimate  acquaintance  of  sixteen  years,  and 
the  further  fact  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  troubles 
their  views  were  in  perfect  harmony.  lie  had  no  doubt 
whatever  but  that  the  silencing  order  of  Gen.  Loan 
would  at  once  be  revoked.  But  for  once  he  had  mis 
taken  the  man.  Mr.  R.  did  not  then  properly  estimate 
the  power  of  the  German  Radicals  of  the  district  nor 
the  ambition  of  Gen.  Hall — the  necessity  for  him  to 
manufacture  a  character  for  extreme  loyalty,  in  doing 
which  he  would  sacrifice  any  man  or  any  principle  that 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  personal  promotion. 

Gen.  Hull  not  only  refused  to  revoke  the  order  of 
Gen.  Loan,  but  published  in  the  St.  Joseph  Herald,  a 
paper  that  circulated  extensively  in  the  military  camps, 
his  letter  to  Mr.  Rush,  in  which  the  latter  was  denounced 


380  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

as  a  traitor  and  unworthy  the  protection  of  the  Govern 
ment.  While  Gen.  Loan,  in  his  personal  intercourse 
with  Mr.  Rush,  was  courteous  and  gentlemanly,  Gen. 
Hall  was  abusive,  ungentlemanly  and  tyrannical.  His 
published  letter  unveiled  his  true  character,  while  it 
subjected  its  helpless  victim  to  suspicion,  insult  and  at 
tempts  at  brutal  assassination. 

Mr.  Rush,  in  the  midst  of  such  trials  and  dangers,  had 
to  give  up  his  charge  and  return  to  I  hillicothe.  Here 
he  found  his  beautiful  home  laid  waste ;  the  fencing  de 
stroyed,  the  house  broken  up,  horses  stabled  in  three 
rooms  on  the  first  floor,  and  soldiers  quartered  on  the 
second  floor,  and  the  fruit  and  shrubbery  all  destroyed. 

He  rented  a  house  for  his  family,  and  while  the  officers 
of  the  post  always  treated  him  with  courtesy  and  kind 
ness,  Gen.  Hall's  letter  had  stirred  up  the  common  sol 
diery  until  his  life  and  the  lives  of  his  family  were  in 
constant  peril.  When  he  discovered  this  state  of  things, 
he  wrote  Gen.  Hall  a  polite  letter,  protesting  against 
his  published  letter,  representing  the  injustice  he  had 
done  him,  and  the  danger  to  his  person  and  life  caused 
by  it.  Gen.  Hall  returned  his  letter,  and  in  reply  threat 
ened  him  with  a  military  commission. 

About  the  1st  of  May,  1863,  a  bold  attempt  was  made 
to  assassinate  him  in  his  own  house.  His  house  was 
first  assailed  with  stones  and  brick-bats,  by  which  the 
windows  were  crushed  in  and  the  door  battered.  Pistol 
shots  were  then  fired  through  the  doors  and  windows; 
but  a  kind  Providence  protected  him  and  his  family 
from  serious  injury. 

Upon  reporting  the  facts  to  the  officers  in  command, 
protection  was  promptly  furnished,  and  a  guard  sta- 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  381 

tioucd  at  the  house.  But,  at  the  same  time,  the  officers 
advised  him  to  seek  safety  elsewhere;  that  with  all  their 
efforts  to  protect  him  the  assassin's  missile  might  any 
moment  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

The  week  after  this  occurrence  he  went  to  St.  Louis 
to  attend  the  sessions  of  the  Grand  Masonic  bodies  of 
the  State.  These  grand  bodies  gave  to  his  ministerial 
and  personal  character  their  highest  endorsement;  by 
electing  him  01  rand  Chaplain  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  also 
of  the  Grand  Chapter,  and  also  of  the  Convention  of 
High  Priests  for  the  State  of  Missouri. 

The  following  is  the  written  order  which  Gen.  Loan 
directed  Col.  King,  his  subordinate,  to  issue  deposing 
Mr.  Hush  from  the  functions  of  the  ministry  in  his  mili 
tary  district  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  REG'T  M.  S.  31.,      ") 
CIIILLIOOTIIE,  Mo.,  April  24,  1SII2.  j" 

"Rev.  W.  J/".  Rush/ChiUirothe,  Mo.: 

"Dear  Sir — lam  directed  by  the  Brigadier-General 
commanding  the  district  to  notify  you  that  it  is  deemed 
advisable  and  necessary  to  suspend  you  from  the  per 
formance  of  your  duties  as  a  minister,  or  preacher, 
within  this  military  district,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  any 
of  the  public  services  in  the  church.  This  will,  you  ob 
serve,  include  all  preaching,  the  conducting  of  prayer 
meetings,  &c.,  &e.  Of  said  suspension  you  are  hereby 
notified. 

"This,  I  will  add,  results  from  information,  deemed 
entirely  reliable,  of  your  disloyal  sentiments,  and  of 
your  very  great  desire  to  actively  promote  the  cause  of 
the  traitors. 

"I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"WALTER  KING,  Col.  31.  S.  31., 
"Commanding  Chillicothe  Post." 


382  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Mr.  Rush  had  been  prohibited  by  verbal  order  from 
preaching  in  St.  Joseph.  After  he  left  St.  Joseph  he- 
preached  once  in  Plattsburg  and  once  in  Chillicothe, 
whereupon  General  Loan  ordered  Colonel  King  to  issue 
the  above  order.  It  was  this  order  which  Mr.  Bush 
requested  G-en.  Hall  to  revoke. 

The  reply  to  the  letter  asking  the  revocation  of  Gen, 
Loan's  order,  besides  being  published,  was  sent  as  a 
private  note  also,  and  is  as  follows : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  N".  W.  Dis.,      ) 
ST.  JOSEPH,  Mo.,  February  17,  1863.  j 

"Rev.  W.  M.  Mush,  Chillicothe,  Mo.  : 

"My  Dear  Sir — I  am  in  receipt  of  yours  of  the  16th 
inst.  I  regret  that  I  am  not  able  to  comply  with  your 
request.  According  to  my  views,  a  religious  congrega 
tion  that  can  not  endure  prayers  for  its  Government  is 
disloyal ;  and  a  minister  that  encourages  such  a  congre 
gation  in  its  course  is  also  disloyal. 

"I  agree  with  you,  that  allegiance  and  protection  are 
reciprocal.  But  allegiance  requires  the  citizen  to  pro 
tect  the  Government  against  all  enemies.  This  you  not 
only  refuse  to  do,  but  you  are  not  willing  to  pray  for 
the  success  of  your  Government  over  traitors.  You 
claim  to  be  neutral.  A  citizen  has  no  right  to  be  neutral 
when  enemies  are  assailing  his  Government. 

"  I  can  not  relieve  you  from  Gen.  Loan's  order. 
"  Very  respectfully, 

"  WILLARD  P.  HALL, 

"Brig.-Gen.  Com'dg." 

The  following  letter  was  written  to  General  Hall  after 
Mr.  Bush  had  suffered  long  and  much  from  the  effects 
of  his  published  letter.  It  explains  itself : 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  383 

"  CIIILLICOTIIE,  Mo.,  April  30,  1863. 
"Gen.  W.  P.  Hall: 

11  DEAR  SIR  :  Some  months  ago  I  requested  you  to  re 
lieve  me  from  Gen.  Loan's  order.  This  you  declined  to 
do,  and  at  the  same  time  (unintentionally,  I  hope,)  in 
flicted  upon  me  a  severe  injury.  Your  letter  was  pub 
lished  in  the  Herald,  and  was  made  the  basis  of  various 
actions  against  me.  Dr.  Hughs,  who  classified  those 
who  were  exempt  from  military  duty  as  loyal  and  dis 
loyal,  enrolled  me  disloyal.  I  asked  him  on  what 
ground  he  so  enrolled  me,  and  told  him  that  I  claimed 
to  be  as  loyal  as  any  man  in  the  Government,  and  that 
I  challenged  any  man  to  show  the  contrary.  He  told 
me  that  he  acted  upon  your  letter  and  did  not  feel  him 
self  authorized  to  go  behind  it.  He  assigned  no  other 
reason.  Dr.  Hughs,  you  may  know,  is  an  extreme  Rad 
ical  man. 

"On  the  1st  of  January  Capt.  Moore,  Provost-Mar 
shal  of  this  post,  gave  what  are  called  free  passes  to  my 
negro  woman  and  girl,  and  they  are  now  in  Kansas.  I 
called  on  him  to  know  on  what  ground  he  based  his 
action.  He  said  he  concluded  from  your  letter  that  I 
was  rebellious,  and,  therefore,  gave  the  passes  Avithout 
any  charge  or  proof. 

"On  the  first  Monday  of  April,  at  our  municipal  elec 
tion,  my  vote  was  challenged  by  a  Lieutenant  from  St. 
Joseph,  I  believe.  I  asked  on  what  ground.  lie  said 
my  name  was  on  the  disloyal  list.  I  told  him  T  did  not 
put  it  there.  Capt,  Moore  said  it  was  put  there  by  or 
der  of  Gen.  Loan. 

"Such  are  some  of  the  open  effects  of  your  published 


384  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

letter,  and,,  as  a  lawyer,  you  doubtless  know  the  extent 
of  your  legal  responsibility  for  such  publication. 

"In  your  published  letter  to  me  you  regarded  me  as 
disloyal  because,  as  you  say,  I  encouraged,  a  congrega 
tion  that  could  not  endure  prayers  for  its  Government. 
If  by  the  Government  you  mean  the  country  and  the 
Constitution,  I  beg  to  inform  you  that  prayers  are  regu 
larly  offered  for  the  country,  in  the  public  congregation 
as  well  as  in  my  private  family;  and  in  private  I  pray 
to  Him  who  is  infinite  in  wisdom,  in  goodness  and  in 
power,  that  he  would  so  direct  in  the  affairs  of  the  na 
tion,  and  so  control  the  events  that  are  now  transpiring 
as  that  all  things  might  yet  result  for  his  glory  and  the 
well  being  of  humanity;  that  he  would  grant  unto  our 
rulers  wisdom  to  adopt  such  measures  as  would  speedily 
bring  peace  and  prosperity  to  our  distracted  country. 

"  If  by  the  Government  you  mean  the  measures  of 
the  Administration,  I  must  say  that  I  do  not  pray  for  the 
success  of  the  President's  Proclamation  liberating  the 
slaves  of  the  South. 

"  Since  these  troubles  began,  I  have  claimed  to  be, 
and  I*  believe  I  am,  as  loyal  a  man  as  there  is  in  the 
country,  and  the  Constitution  does  not  permit  you,  nor 
any  body  of  men,  to  prescribe  a  form  of  prayer  as  a  test 
of  my  loyalty.  Since  the  commencement  of  these 
troubles  I  have  been  a  man  of  peace.  I  believed  that 
war  would  be  disastrous  to  the  country,  and  that  if  per 
severed  in  it  would  tear  down  the  fair  fabric  which  my 
fathers  helped  to  rear,  and  that  my  children  would  be 
left  without  a  country. 

"Sir,  I  boast  not  of  family,  but  an  ancestral  name 
stands  on  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  the 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI  385 

family  has  represented  the  Government  at  Paris  and  at 
London.  Sir,  I  can  pray  for  peace,  but  I  can  not  pray 
for  war.  I  never  in  public  or  in  private  prayed  for  the 
success  of  the  sword  as  wielded  by  any  power  on  earth. 

"What  was  my  offense?  I  labored  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  my  congregation.  I  thought  that  the  Church 
was  not  the  proper  arena  for  the  strife  of  those  contend 
ing  opinions  that  were  convulsing  the  nation. 

"  Why  did  not  Colhoun  and  Lyon  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  offer  such  prayers  as  that  offered  by  W.  C.  Toole  ? 
I  will  answer.  They  had  too  high  a  sense  of  religious 
propriety.  Sir,  political  preaching  has  sown  the  seeds 
that  are  bringing  forth  the  death  of  the  nation.  In  more 
than  twenty  years  in  the  ministry  I  have  never  given 
utterance  to  a  political  sentiment  in  the  pulpit.  But 
now  these  political  preachers  are  heroes,  and  I  am  with 
out  a  pulpit. 

"You  have,  also,  published  to  the  world  that  I  have 
no  claim  upon  the  Government  for  protection.  Thus  I 
am  published  by  you  as  an  outlaw,  to  be  slain  by  any 
one  who  may  be  so  disposed.  And  this,  notwithstand 
ing  I  have  constantly  performed  every  duty  enjoined 
upon  me  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  country. 

"On  last  Wednesday  evening,  just  at  dark,  my  son 
William,  while  feeding,  was  shot  at  by  some  one  who 
had  secreted  himself  but  a  few  yards  from  him.  The 
bullet  entered  his  cap  just,  over  his  forehead  and  passed 
out  behind.  An  inch  lower  would  have  killed  him. 
The  shot  was,  no  doubt,  intended  for  me. 

"When  I  wrote  to  you  before,  I  did  it  that  you  might 
make  your  own  record  in  my  case.  You  had  the  oppor 
tunity  of  revoking  Gen.  Loan's  order  or  of  sustaining 
25 


386  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

it.     You  saw  proper  to  exceed  very  much  the  order  of 
Gen.  Loan. 

"  One  word  more.  I  had  a  financial  interest  of  81200 
a  year  in  my  pulpit  so  long  as  my  pastoral  relation  to 
the  Church  should  continue.  That  relation  still  con 
tinues,  but  my  financial  interest  in  the  pulpit  has  been 
confiscated,  without  the  authority  of  law  and  contrary 
to  a  general  order  issued  by  the  General  commanding 
the  department.  I  am  advised  by  eminent  legal  counsel 
that  yourself  and  General  Loan  are  financially  respon 
sible  to  me. 

"  General,  I  have  thus  written  to  you  candidly,  as  I 
think  a  man  of  conscious  integrity  has  a  right  to  write 
to  one  to  whom  he  is  willing  to  accord  equal  integrity. 
If  you  think  that  order  should  still  remain  in  force,  so  let 
it  be. 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"W.  M.  BUSH." 
To  this  letter  General  Hall  made  the  following  reply  : 

"HEADQ'RS  SEVENTH  MILITARY  DIS'T  OF  Mo.,  *) 
ST.  JOSEPH,  Mo.,  May  2,  1863.          j 

"Eev.  Wm.  Rush,  Chillicothe,  Mo.  : 

"Sir — I  return  herewith  your  very  extraordinary 
letter  of  the  30th  nit.  Notwithstanding  the  threats 
contained  in  it  against  myself,  you  surely  did  not  con 
sider  what  you  were  writing.  My  opinion  Avas,  and  is, 
that  it  would  do  a  serious  injury  to  the  public  for  me 
to  rescind  Gen.  Loan's  order  with  reference  to  yourself. 
To  threaten  an  officer  for  the  discharge  of  his  duties, 
especially  in  times  like  these,  is  a  serious  offense,  which 
a  Military  Commission  would  promptly  punish.  I  bear 
you  no  malice.  I  have  done  what  I  have  done  in  your 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  387 

case  because  I  believed  my  duty  required  it.     My  ad 
vice  to  you  is,  to  make  no  more  threats. 
"  Yery  respectfully, 

"WILLARD  P.  HALL, 

"Brig.-Gen'l,  E.  M.  M." 

Neither  explanation  nor  comment  is  necessary  to  the 
full  meaning  of  this  instance  of  heartless  cruelty  and 
wanton  oppression.  The  fact  that  General  Hall's 
mother-in-law,  with  whom  he  lived,  was  at  the  time  one 
of  the  most  devoted,  pious  and  prominent  members  of 
Mr.  Rush's  Church,  only  shades  the  deeper  and  darker 
the  character  of  this  Missouri  Nero. 

General  Hall's  skepticism  and  political  ambition  made 
him  a  ready  and  a  cruel  instrument  of  religious  persecu 
tion.  Without  the  moral  courage  to  avow  his  skepti 
cism,  and  denied  the  force  of  character  necessary  to 
meet  and  master  opposition,  he  was  just  the  man  to  use 
the  authority  of  shoulder-straps  to  make  war  upon  the 
institutions  of  heaven  and  persecute  God's  chosen 
ministers  of  salvation;  and  he  will  feel  very  uncomfort 
able  in  the  history  he  has  made. 

Mr.  Rush  found  it  necessary  for  his  own  safety  to  re 
move  his  family  to  St.  Louis,  and  remain  there  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  found  the  Mound  Church 
without  a  pastor,  and  by  the  appointment  of  the  Presid 
ing  Elder  took  charge  of  that  Church,  and  there  re 
mained  until  the  quiet  and  safety  that  succeeded  the 
war  was  restored  to  the  State.  Mr.  Rush  will  appear 
again  as  a  victim  of  the  New  Constitution,  and  a  noble 
champion  of  the  liberty  of  conscience  and  the  supremacy 
of  Christ  in  his  Church,  which  the  infidel  provisions  of 
that  instrument  endeavored  to  strike  down. 


388  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

It  will  be  appropriate  to  close  this  chapter  with  an 
account  of  the  murder  of  the 

REV.  NATHANIEL  WOLLARD, 

A  minister  of  the  Calvinistic,  or,  as  generally  termed, 
"Hard-Shell"  Baptist  Church. 

Elder  Wollard,  or  "Uncle  Natty,"  as  he  was  famil 
iarly  called,  was  an  aged  man,  in  his  seventy -second  year. 
He  had  lived  a  long  time  in  Dallas  county,  Mo.,  where 
he  was  extensively  known  and  very  highly  appreciated 
as  a  true  man,  a  good  neighbor,  a  kind  father,  an  affec 
tionate  husband,  a  peaceable  citizen  and  an  acceptable 
minister — highly  esteemed  in  love  by.  his  denomination 
for  his  character  and  work.  He  could  not,  nor  did  he 
desire  to.  take  any  part  in  the  strifes,  excitements  and 
dangers  of  the  war.  He  craved  the  boon  of  living  at 
home  unmolested,  and  spending  the  evening  of  his  life 
in  peace  in  the  bosom  of  his  family. 

He  had  grown  up  in  the  olden  times,  and  under  the 
old  regime,  when  men  were  outspoken,  candid  and  fear 
less  in  the  utterance  of  their  sentiments ;  and,  hence,  he 
expressed  himself  in  opposition  to  the  "abolitionists," 
as  he  called  the  Union  men,  and  in  sympathy  with  the 
South.  He  did  not  make  himself  officious  or  offensive 
in  the  expression  of  his  Southern  sympathies.  He  was 
not  a  secessionist  per  se,  but  a  Southern  man,  deeply  im 
pressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  Northern  fanatics 
intended  to  break  up  the  Government  arid  destroy  the 
foundations  of  republican  liberty.  He  honestly  believed 
that  the  success  of  the  South  in  the  struggle  would  vin 
dicate  the  wisdom  of  the  fathers  of  the  Eepublic,  and 
establish  firmly  and  forever  the  vital  principles  of  civil 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  389 

and  religious  liberty  for  which  "  Washington  fought  arid 
freemen  died." 

The  fact  that  he  entertained  such  sentiments,  how 
ever  prudent  and  cautious  in  their  utterance,  "was 
sufficient  to  call  forth  the  vengeful  feelings  and  murder 
ous  purposes  of  the  militia  of  this  State." 

A  detailed  account  of  his  murder  has  been  furnished 
by  one  acquainted  with  all  the  facts,  in  the  following 
language  : 

"The  murder  was  committed  on  the  evening  of  Sept. 
1,  1863 — that  dark  and  bloody  year.  A  cheerful  fire 
had  been  made  in  his  sitting  room,  and  he  was  peace 
fully  enjoying  an  evening  with  his  family,  all  unconscious 
of  the  approach  of  danger — not  dreaming  that  his  peace 
would  so  soon  be  disturbed,  or  that  his  long  life  was  so 
near  its  end.  While  thus  in  domestic  tranquillity,  and 
unconscious  of  danger,  a  squad  of  militia  scouts  rode  up 
to  the  door,  dismounted  and  walked  in  without  any 
ceremony.  They  addressed  the  old  man  in  a  very 
rough  manner,  ordering  him  out  of  his  house,  as  they 
wished  to  speak  with  him.  Father  Wollard  told  them 
that  they  could  talk  to  him  where  he  was;  that  he  was 
not  going  to  leave  his  house. 

"  The  intention  of  the  militia  was  evidently  to  get  him 
out  of  his  house,  feign  that  he  made  an  effort  to  escape, 
and  shoot  him.  If  this  was  their  intention  they  were 
defeated  by  the  fact  that  Father  Wollard  supposed  that 
if  he  left  the  house,  one  or  two  men  would  guard  him 
and  his  family  while  the  rest  of  them  would  pillage  and 
then  burn  the  house. 

"When  they  found  that  they  could  not  get  him  out 
of  the  house,  one  of  the  militia  raised  his  pistol  and  shot 


390  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

him,  the  ball  taking  effect  in  the  face  and  inflicting  a 
mortal  wound.  He  was  removed  from  the  house  into 
the  yard  and  laid  on  a  bed  prepared  for  him,  his  head 
resting  on  the  bosom  of  his  heart-broken  companion, 
while  his  son,  a  youth  of  sixteen,  was  wiping  the  blood 
from  his  face,  and  keeping  it  from  his  mouth,  as  it  flowed 
so  freely  from  the  wound  that  he  feared  it  would 
strangle  his  father.  In  the  meantime  the  militia  had 
set  the  house  on  fire  and  committed  everything  they 
had  to  the  flames. 

"Having  finished  their  work  of  destruction,  one  of 
them  came  to  where  the  dying  old  man  was  lying,  and, 
finding  that  he  was  not  yet  dead,  shot  him  again,  the 
ball  taking  eifect  in  his  forehead.  He  instantly  expired. 

"  The  only  charge  they  made  against  him  was  that 
he  fed  <  bush-whackers/  which  was  not  true.  He  had 
fed  Southern  and  Federal  soldiers  alike  when  they  came 
to  his  house,  and  some  of  these  very  men  had  been 
recently  fed  at  his  table  who  now  turned  upon  him  and 
brutally  and  barbarously  murdered  him. 

"The  men  who  committed  this  fatal  and  foul  deed 
belonged  to  Capt.  Morgan  Kelly's  company  of  militia. 
They  were  never  punished,  but  are  now  living  in  Dallas 
county  undisturbed,  except  by  an  accusing  conscience. 
Capt.  Kelly  himself  professes  to  be  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  of  the  Christian,  or  Campbellite,  Church,  yet  he 
seems  to  live  in  peace,  with  this  and  many  other  crimes 
staring  him  in  the  face." 

The  heart  sickens  at  such  a  recital  of  cold-blooded 
murder;  and  the  evidence  of  savage,  not  to  say  in 
human,  barbarity  that  characterized  the  horrible  crime 
is  sufficient  to  humiliate  the  whole  race  of  men  and 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  391 

send  our  much  vaunted  Christian  civilization  reeling 
back  into  the  dark  ages.  The  shadow  on  the  dial  of 
Ahaz  went  back  ten  degrees — it  was  a  wonderful  mir 
acle — but  here,  in  the  noon  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
the  shadow  on  the  dial  of  human  progress  and  Christian 
civilization  has  gone  down  forty  degrees  without  a 
miracle,  and  reaches  the  grosser,  the  darker  and  the 
baser  passions  of  our  fallen  nature,  which  instigate  and 
then  execute  deeds  of  horror  at  which  all  Christendom 
revolts. 


392  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

REV.  B.  H.  SPENCER. 

His  Character  and  Position  as  a  Minister — Order  of  Banishment — 
Interview  with  General  Merrill — Note  to  Colonel  Kettle — Cause 
of  Banishment — Letter  to  A.  C.  Stewart — Provost-Marshal  at 
Danville — Frank,  Manly  Reply — Second  Letter  to  Mr.  Stewart, 
and  Petition  to  General  'McKean— The  Latter  Treated  with  Silent. 
Contempt — Strong  Loyal  Petition  Endorsed  by  H.  S.  Lane,  U.  S. 
Senator,  and  O.  P.  Morton,  Governor  of  Indiana — ''Red  Tape" — 
Petition  Returned— Hon.  S.  C.  Wilson  Counsel  for  the  Exiles- 
General  Schofield  Finally  and  Unconditionally  Revokes  the  Order 
of  Banishment — Indictment  for  Preaching  Without  Taking  the 
"Test  Oath."— Why  he  Declined  to  Take  the  Oath— Prayer  for 
his  Persecutors. 

KEV.  B.  H.  SPENCER. 

Neither  goodness,  kindness,  humility  nor  usefulness 
in  a  minister  of  the  gospel  could  disarm  malice  or  shield 
the  servant  of  God  from  the  persecutions  of  wicked  men. 
It  is  truly  astonishing  how  many  and  how  diverse  the 
pretexts  framed  for  the  arrest,  robbery,  banishment, 
imprisonment  or  murder  of  those  whose  only  crime  was 
that  they  were  ministers  of  the  gospel  in  connection 
with  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  Infidelity  was  never  at 
a  loss  for  expedients  and  Antichrist  was  never  without 
efficient  agents. 

The  Eev.  B.  H.  Spencer  is  almost  a  native  of  Missouri, 
being  only  six  months  of  age  when  his  parents  came  to 
Missouri  from  North  Carolina,  and  has  received  regular 
appointments  from  the  Missouri  Annual  Conference, 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  393 

M.  E.  Church,  South,  consecutively  since  1843,  when  he 
was  first  admitted  on  trial.  No  man  has  a  cleaner  and 
purer  record  in  the  Church,  both  in  his  personal  and 
ministerial  character;  and  few  men  have  occupied  so 
many  places  of  high  trust  and  responsibility.  He  is 
one  of  the  old  Presiding  Elders,  and  has  often  been 
called  to  represent  his  Conference  on  the  floor  of  the 
G-eneral  Conference,  and  has  always  proved  himself  to 
be  prudent  in  council,  wise  in  legislation,  correct  in  ad 
ministration  and  eminent^  useful  in  the  pulpit;  distin 
guished,  perhaps,  for  his  scriptural,  practical  and  forcible 
expositions  of  the  distinctive  doctrines  and  duties  of 
Bible  Christianity.  He  is  zealous,  humble,  earnest,  ener 
getic  and  Methodistic  in  all  his  ministerial  work;  exten 
sively  known  and  highly  esteemed  in  love  for  his  works' 
sake  all  over  the  State. 

Long  associated  with  the  honored  names  that  will  livo 
in  the  annals  of  Missouri  Methodism,  and  taking  a  high 
rank  with  them,  the  sentiments  that  introduced  the 
Eev.  "VV.  M.  Rush  to  these  pages,  and  the  reader,  may, 
with  but  little  alteration,  introduce  Mr.  Spencer. 

Mr.  Spencer  is  a  representative  man  in  his  character 
and  position  in  Missouri,  and  while  his  persecutions 
were  severe  and  protracted,  his  was  not  an  isolated  case. 
He  represents  in  his  cruel  and  wanton  exile  a  large  class 
of  Missourians,  and  especially  of  Missouri  ministers,  some 
of  whom  will,  perhaps,  never  return  to  this  State.  B. 
T.  Kavanaugh,  L.  M.  Lewis,  E.  K.  Miller,  B.  E.  Baxter 
and  many  others  are  possibly  lost  to  the  State  forever. 
They  may  have  gone  out  for  different  causes,  but  the 
peculiar  proscription  and  persecutions  to  which  minis 
ters  in  Missouri  have  been  subjected  kept  them  out, 


894  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Few  if  any  cases  of  persecution  in  Missouri  present 
more  deliberate  meditation,  cooler  cruelty  and  more 
heartless  inhumanity  than  the  one  disclosed  in  the  fol 
lowing  narrative,  made  in  Mr.  Spencer's  own  quiet, 
clear  and  forcible  style.  His  letters  to  the  various  mili 
tary  officials,  written  in  exile,  and  while  all  the  finer 
sentiments  and  feelings  of  his  manly,  Christian  heart 
were  writhing  under  the  cruel  injustice  he  had  to  bear 
without  the  means  of  vindication  or  the  hope  of  redress, 
are  worthy  the  pen  of  Cranmer,  and  would  have  given 
a  higher  tone  and  temper  to  the  moral  courage  of 
Latimore. 

The  reader  must,  however,  measure  the  man  and  his 
persecutors  by  the  following  paper  : 

"  ORDER  or  BANISHMENT. 

"DEAR  DOCTOR  :  The  first  item  that  I  send  you  is  in 
regard  to  my  banishment,  as  an  act  of  ecclesiastical  perse 
cution. 

"  In  the  town  of  High  Hill,  Mo.,  on  the  16th  January, 
1863,  I  received  from  the  hands  of  a  Federal  soldier  the 
following  order,  viz. : 

" '  HEADQUARTERS  N.  E.  DISTRICT  MISSOURI,  ) 
"  <  WARRENTON,  Mo.,  Jan.  13,  1863.      j 

it  <  Provost- Marshal,  or  Commanding  Officer,  Danville,  Mo.  : 
" '  SIR  :  You  will  cause  the  following  persons  to  leave 
the  State  of  Missouri,  within  a  reasonable  time  after  the 
receipt  of  this  order,  and  reside,  during  the  war  or  until 
permitted  to  return,  at  some  place  north  of  Indianapolis, 
Indiana,  and  east  of  Illinois.  They  will  be  required  to 
report  to  you,  by  letter,  once  a  month,  and  are  not  per 
mitted  to  leave  the  State  by  way  of  St.  Louis,  but 


MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI.  395 

directed  to  go  by  Macon  City  and  Hannibal,  Missouri. 
Eev.  B.  II.  Spencer,     ******     *. 

"'By  command  of  Brigadier-General  Merrill. 

«<GEO.  M.  HOUSTON,  A.  A.  G.' 

"The  above  order  was  accompanied  b}^  the  following: 

"<  HEADQUARTERS  67TH  REGIMENT  E.  M.  M.,  j 
"  'DANVILLE,  Mo.,  Jan.  16,  1863.      j 
"'Rev.  B.  II.  Spencer : 

"  '  SIR  :  The  above  is  a  true  copy  of  Gen.  Merrill's 
order  to  me.  You  will  obey  said  order  within  six  days 
from  this  date.  You  will  report  to  these  headquarters 
on  the  day  of  departure. 

"'By  order  of  J.  G.  Kettle,  Col.  Commanding. 

"( J.  F.  ANDERSON,  Adjutant/ 

"  On  the  day  of  receiving  this  order  I  went  to  War- 
renton,  being  Gen.  Merrill's  headquarters,  to  see  if  I 
could  not  induce  him  to  revoke  it.  I  found  him  at  the 
supper  table,  and  unwilling  to  give  me  a  hearing  any 
where  else,  when  the  following  conversation  took  place 
between  us : 

"  (  Gen.  Merrill,  I  have  received  from  you  an  order  of 
banishment  from  the  State,  and  wish  to  see  you  in  re 
gard  to  it.' 

"  '  Then  what  is  your  name  and  place  of  residence  ?' 
"'My  name  is  B.  H.  Spencer,  High  Hill,  Mo.' 
"  General  (in  a  passion) — '  I  can  do  nothing  for  you  P 
"I  replied — 'It  seems  that  the  tongue  of  slander  has 
reached  you  concerning  me;  will  you  hear  evidence  in 
my  favor  ?' 

"His  reply  was  peremptorily,  'No,  sir!' 

"I  inquired,  'Will  you  then  read  documents?' 

"Answer  in  same  manner — <No)  sir!' 


396  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

"He  then  inquired — 'Does  the  order  allow  you  to  go 
by  St.  Louis  ?' 

"I  answered,  'No,  sir.' 

"'Then/  said  he,  'see  that  you  don't  go  that  way  I1 

"I  replied,  'I  don't  expect  to.' 

"He  said,  "see  that  you  don't!'  And  then  added, 
'You  may  think  yourself  very  fortunate  that  you  are 
not  hung,  and  should  feel  that  you  are  very,  mercifully 
dealt  by  I ' 

So  the  conversation  ended,  and  I  returned  home  and 
wrote  the  following  note  to  Colonel  Kettle: 

"  HIGH  HILL,  Mo.,  Jan.  19,  1863. 
"  '  Col.  J.  G.  Kettle,  Danville,  Mo.  : 

"  'HONORED  SIR  :  Some  time  ago  I  promised  to  marry 
a  couple  in  this  vicinity  on  to-morrow  night,  and  as  it 
will  not  be  in  violation  of  Gen.  Merrill's  order,  and  will 
furnish  me  some  means  with  which  to  carry  out  that 
order,  will  you  permit  me  to  do  so  ? 

"  'I  am,  very  respectfully,  B.  H.  SPENCER.' 

"  The  following  is  his  reply : 

"  '  HEADQUARTERS  67TH  EEGIMENT  E.  M.M.,  ) 
'-"DANVILLE,  Mo.,  Jan.  19,  1863.      } 

"'Rev.  B.  H.  Spencer: 

" '  SIR  :  Your  request  to  marry  the  couple  and  to 
preach  is  granted.  I  would  say  that  you  had  better  not 
speak  of  your  banishment  in  your  sermon. 

"'Yours,  &c.,  J.  G.  KETTLE,' Colonel/ 

"  On  the  25th  of  January,  1863,  I  preached  the  ser 
mon  alluded  to  j  and  then,  in  company  with  four  others, 
made  my  report  to  military  headquarters  at  Danville, 
Mo.  But,  in  consequence  of  an  accident  on  the  railroad, 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  397 

I  was  permitted  to  remain  with  my  family  until  the 
28th  of  that  month,  when,  with  a  sad  heart,  I  was  com 
pelled  to  leave  my  distressed  wife  and  six  little  children 
and  go  into  a  land  of  strangers,  and  remain  in  exile  for 
ten  long  months. 

"Dr.  II.  W.  ritman,  Rev.  D.  W.  Nowlin,  Rev.  J.  D. 
Gregory  and  Rev.  \Vm.  A.  Taylor  were  banished  in  com 
pany  with  me.  We  had  no  trial,  either  civil  or  military, 
nor  would  they  condescend  to  tell  us  what  were  the 
charges  against  us,  or  whether,  indeed,  there  were  any. 
Nor  to  this  day — September  7th,  I$G9 — have  wo  found 
out  why  it  was  done,  except  through  private  and  un 
official  sources.  The  information  thus  received  as  to 
the  cause  of  my  banishment  was  as  I  expected — T  was 
banished  because  Itvas  a  Southern  Methodist  preacher! 
One  of  the  officers  was  asked  by  one  of  my  friends: 
'  What  are  the  charges  against  Spencer  T  lie  answered, 
(I  never  heard  that  there  are  any ;  but  he  is  a  man  of  influ 
ence,  and,  if  disposed,  can  do  a  great  deal  of  harm!'  An 
other  officer  was  asked  by  another  friend,  and  he  re 
plied,  <  The  fact  that  he  is  a  Southern  Methodist  preacher 
is  all  I  want  to  knoiv !'  There  never  was  a  more  clear 
case  of  ecclesiastical  persecution  than  was  my  banish 
ment.  Certain  men  sought  to  produce  secession,  treason 
and  rebellion  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  by  way  of 
showing  how  they  professed  to  hate  these  things  in  the 
nation;  I  opposed  them,  and  they  became  my  enemies 
and  had  me  banished.  If  any  one  doubts  this  let  him 
attend  to  the  following  documents: 

"<  ASIIBY'S  MILLS,  IND.,  April  22,  1863. 
"'Mr.  A.  C.  Stewart,  Provost-Marshal,  Danville,  Mo.: 

f< '  SIR — There  are  reasons  which  induce  me  to  believe 


398  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

that  my  case  is  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  the  officers  and 
Union  men  of  Danville  and  vicinity.  If  this  be  so,  I 
wish  to  solicit  your  attention  to  a  few  considerations  in 
regard  to  my  case.  And,  first,  I  was  banished  from  my 
home  and  family  without  a  trial  or  a  knowledge  of  the 
charges  against  me,  or  who  preferred  them.  Now,  sir, 
is  this  right  ?  Is  there  any  law,  civil  or  military,  that 
will  punish  an  innocent  man  ?  How  could  the  officer 
who  banished  me  know  that  I  was  guilty  of  any  crime 
without  giving  me  a  trial  and  hearing  evidence  in  the 
case  ?  Have  I  ever  had  such  a  trial  ?  When  ?  Where  ? 
Who  were  the  judge,  jury,  witnesses  pro  and  con  f 
Where  was  the  prisoner  during  the  trial  ?  And  where 
was  my  legal  counsel  to  see  that  justice  was  done  me? 
With  what  was  I  charged,  and  who  were  my  accusers  ? 
Three  months  have  passed  since  my  banishment,  and  I 
am  still  left  in  ignorance  of  why  it  was  done.  Was  it 
done  merely  to  gratify  official  ambition  ?  or  rather,  was 
it  not  done  to  gratify  the  malice  of  secret  enemies  ?  Can 
the  interests  of  the  Government  be  secured  or  protected 
or  its  dignity  increased  by  such  treatment  of  one  of  its 
citizens  ?  Do  you  say  that  I  am  a  great  rebel,  and 
therefore  such  treatment  is  good  enough  for  me  ?  How 
do  you  know  that  I  am  a  rebel  at  all,  much  less  a  great 
one  ?  Did  you  learn  it  from  mere  rumor,  or  from  a 
trustworthy  witness,  sworn  to  tell  the  truth  before  a 
proper  tribunal  and  in  the  presence  of  the  accused  ?  In 
the  absence  of  such  evidence  how  can  an  intelligent 
gentleman  make  such  a  charge,  if,  indeed,  any  one  does 
make  it  ?  If  it  be  stated,  or  insinuated,  that  I  have  been, 
or  am,  disloyal  or  disobedient  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  or  to  any  of  the  laws  made  in  pursuance 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  399 

thereof,  or  to  the  constitution  and  laws  of  any  State 
where  I  have  ever  lived,  or  to  any  military  order  or 
edict — this  most  unjust  and  oppressive  one  banishing  me 
from  my  home  and  family  not  exceptcd — I  deny  the  allega 
tion  and  defy  proof  by  competent  testimony !  Have  I  not 
silently  borne  injustice  and  oppression  long  enough? 
Can  you  blame  me  for  entering  my  earnest  protest 
against  such  treatment?  Has  it  not  been  said  by  offi 
cers  who  ought  to  know,  ( that  there  arc  no  charges 
against  me,  but  that  I  am  a  man  of  influence,  and,  if  dis 
posed,  could  do  a  great  deal  of  harm  T  Now,  if  there  are 
no  charges  against  me,  in  the  name  of  everything  that 
an  American  citizen  holds  dear,  why  suffer  me  to  be  thus 
persecuted  and  oppressed  without  an  effort  to  prevent 
it?  Are  you  not  a  sworn  officer — sworn  to  support  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States?  and  does 
that  Constitution  allow  such  treatment  of  an  American 
citizen  against  whom  there  arc  no  charges  ?  and  can  you 
allow  it  to  be  done  without  an  effort  to  prevent  it  and 
be  innocent?  And  suppose  I  have  influence,  is  that  a 
crime  ?  and  what  reason  has  any  one  to  fear  that  I  would 
use  it  for  evil  ?  Is  it  proposed  to  banish  men  of  character 
and  influence  from  the  State  for  fear  they  will  exert  their 
influence  for  evil?  If  not,  why  send  off,  and  keep  off, 
so  humble  a  person  as  n^self  ?  Is  this  the  way  an  offi 
cer  should  fulfill  his  oath  of  office  ?  Was  lie  clothed 
with  authority  for  this  purpose  ?  Is  this  the  only  pro 
tection  I  am  to  expect  from  the  officers  of  my  native 
State  ?  Is  not  my  banishment,  under  the  circumstances, 
an  unmitigated  outrage  upon  civil  and  military  order, 
as  well  as  upon  my  liberties  as  a  citizen  ?  I  love  and 
almost  venerate  the  Government  of  the  United  States  as 


400  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

established  by  our  patriotic  ancestors  !  Among  earthly 
institutions  I  expect  and  want  nothing  better.  With  it  I 
find  no  fault.  My  complaint  is  against  certain  of  its  officers 
for  the  injustice  and  oppression  with  which  they  treat  me. 
If  you  were  in  my  place  and  I  in  your's,  what  course 
would  you  wish  me  to  pursue  ?  If  a  peaceable  and  quiet 
citizen,  such  as  I  have  always  been,  is  not  free  from  im 
prisonment  or  banishment,  who  is  safe  f  Has  justice  for 
saken  the  land?  And  is  there  no  place  where  the  op 
pressed  may  find  redress  ?  If  there  be  any  place  where 
justice  may  be  had,  will  you  tell  me  where  it  is,  and 
how  to  approach  it?  I  must  candidly  believe  that  my 
banishment  was  caused  by  ecclesiastical  persecution — that 
I  am  banished  for  an  ecclesiastical  and  not  for  a  political 
reason !  Certain  persons  sought  to  produce  secession, 
treason  and  rebellion  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  by 
way  of  showing  how  they  professed  to  hate  these  things 
in  the  nation,  and  I  opposed  them,  because  I  not  only 
loved  union  in  the  nation,  but  also  in  the  Church — hence 
they  became  my  enemies,  and  for  this  cause  alone,  as  I 
believe,  they  secured  my  banishment!  I  believe  the 
officer  who  did  it  was  deceived,  and  induced  to  believe 
me  a  bad  and  dangerous  man,  or  surely  he  would  not 
have  acted  so  hastily  and  rashly !  But  you  know,  and 
so  do  all  my  enemies,  that  such  is  not  my  character. 
Who  would  be  injured  by  my  return  to  my  family? 
Can  anybody  tell  ?  Does  anybody  fear  it  ?  Shall  my 
secret  enemies  be  allowed  to  continue  the  gratification 
of  their  malignity  at  my  expense  under  pretense  of 
friendship  to  the  Government?  Will  my  continued 
religious  persecution  do  the  Government  any  good? 
Why,  then,  suffer  its  continuance  ?  Why  keep  a  man  in 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  401 

exile  without  just  cause,  who  is  in  feeble  health,  with 
limited  means,  and  a  wife  and  six  dependent  children 
needing  his  attention  ?  Will  you  not  -then  allow  me  to  come 
home  at  once?  Do  not  even  the  instincts  of  humanity, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  higher  obligations  of  justice  and 
official  duty,  urge  compliance  with  this  request  ?  I 
honestly  believe  that  you  and  the  Union  men  of  your 
vicinity  can  get  me  home  if  you  will — just  as  easily  as 
to  say  the  word.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  honestly 
believe  that  my  whole  case  is  in  your  hands,  and  that  I 
remain  in  exile  or  return  to  my  family,  just  as  you  will 
the  one  or  the  other.  I  have  reasons  for  this  opinion, 
and  if  I  am  mistaken  would  like  to  know  it.  I  wish  to 
say  that  in  all  that  I  have  written  I  have  not  intention 
ally  used  a  single  word  that  was  disrespectful  toward 
those  in  authority.  In  all  that  I  have  said,  I  have  aimed 
to  speak  plainly,  candidly  and  earnestly,  but  also  respect 
fully.  I  respect  you  on  account  of  the  authority  with 
which  you  are  invested  and  the  Government  which  you 
represent.  But  I  protest  against  the  way  I  am  treated, 
and  who  can  blame  me  for  it?  And  if  this  protest  shall 
be- disregarded  now,  perhaps  it  may  live  and  speak  in 
vindication  of  my  character  when  I  am  dead,  and  when 
the  voice  of  injured  justice  shall  be  heard  and  respected. 
If  you  can  not  release  me,  will  you  tell  me  who  can? 
And  will  you  answer  this  at  your  earliest  possible  con 
venience,  and  let  me  know  what  you  intend  to  do  in 
my  case.  I  am,  most  respectfully, 

"<B.  II.   SPENCER/ 

"  The  answer  of  the  Provost-Marshal  was  prompt,  frank 
and  manly,  and  docs  honor  to  the  head  and  heart  of  its 
author.     Unlike  every  other  officer,  civil  or  military,  to 
26 


402  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

whom  I  had  applied  for  information  or  redress,  he  did 
not  treat  me  with  silent  contempt.  He  answered.  And 
the  answer  is  important,  because  it  shows  clearly  that 
he  not  only  had  no  hand  in  the  banishment  of  myself  and 
my  companions  in  exile,  but  that  he  also  had  been  kept 
in  ignorance  of  the  intention  to  do  it,  as  also  for  the 
reasons  why  it  was  done.  Surely  there  could  have 
been  no  public  charges  against  us,  or  proper  trial  in  our 
case,  or  the  Provost-Marshal  in  our  immediate  vicinity 
could  not  have  thus  been  kept  in  ignorance  of  such  an 
intention  till  after  it  was  done. 

"It  proves,  furthermore,  that  by  order  of  Gen.  Mc- 
Kean,  it  was  left  to  the  so-called  loyal  men  of  Mont 
gomery  county,  Mo.,  to  say  whether  we  should  return 
or  not.  And  we  have  the  names  of  those  who  gave 
their  sworn  opinions  as  to  whether  it  was  proper  for  us 
to  return  or  not,  and  could  give  them,  but  in  mercy  we 
withhold  them.  And,  finally,  it  proves  that  our  efforts 
to  obtain  a  revocation  of  our  order  of  banishment,  to 
be  successful,  had  to  be  kept  to  ourselves.  Tvhy?  Sim 
ply  because  if  our  secret  enemies  found  it  out  they 
would  thwart  our  efforts  at  the  headquarters  of  the 
Commanding  General  of  the  district.  But  the  letter 
speaks  for  itself.  It  is  as  folloAvs  : 

" '  OFFICE  PROVOST-MARSHAL,  DANVILLE,      1 
MONTGOMERY  Co.,  Mo.,  April  26,  1863.  j  . 

"  'Rev.  B.  II.  Spencer,  Ashly's  Mitts,  2nd.  : 

"'DEAR  SIR — I  have  just  received  yours  of  22d  inst.? 
and  must  acknowledge  I  am  utterly  at  a  loss  to  com 
prehend  it. 

"'I  want  to  say,  once  for  all,  to  yourself,  as  also  to 
Doct.  Pitman  and  Judge  Nowlin,  that  I  had  no  hand  in 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  403 

your  banishment  whatever,  either  as  a  private  citizen 
or  as  an  officer;  that  I  never  had,  cither  directly  or  in 
directly,  an  intimation  that  such  a  thing  was  contem 
plated.  An  order  was  issued  by  Genera!  McKeun,  who 
is  Commanding  General  of  this  district,  headquarters  at 
Palmyra,  to  J.  G.  Lane,  Provost-Marshal  of  A\rellsville 
district,  to  take  the  testimony  of  the  loyal  men  of  Mont 
gomery  county  in  relation  to  the  propriety  of  your  re 
turn  home.  Lane  was  removed  from  office  and  his 
district  thrown  into  mine,  and  the  order  was  sent  to  me 
by  General  McKcan,  which  I  executed  by  taking  the 
evidence  of  loyal  men,  both  at  High  Hill  and  Mont 
gomery  City,  as  well  as  Danville.  The  evidence  was 
sworn  to  and  sent  by  order  of  the  commanding  General 
to  his  headquarters. 

"  <  Now,  sir,  I  have  given  you  the  facts  in  regard  to 
everything  I  have  had  to  do  with  this  case.  And,  al 
though  you  protest  against  any  intention  to  insult  or 
offend  in  your  communication,  I  must  frankly  admit 
that  the  whole  tenor  of  your  letter  seems  to  savor  of 
both.  'How  can 'you  consent,  without  just  cause,  to 
keep  one  in  exile  who  is  in  feeble  health/  £c.,  is  one 
extract  from  your  letter.  'WiU  you  not  then  allow  me  to 
come  home  at  once  ?'  is  another.  Now,  sir,  you  must 
know  that  I  have  no  direct  control  of  this  matter !  Why 
ask  me  such  questions  ?  Why  not  ask  me,  as  a  private 
citizen,  to  use  my  influence  to  obtain  a  revocation  of  the 
order  ?  The  authorities  that  issued  the  order  of  your 
banishment  have  never  asked,  neither  have  I  given,  my 
opinion  as  to  the  propriety  of  the  order.  'Notwithstand 
ing  I  consider  your  letter  as  invidious,  and,  as  I  under 
stand  it,  full  of  insinuations  against  me,  yct;  under  tho 


404  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

circumstances;  I  will  allow  humanity  to  step  in,  discard 
all  feeling  that  your  letter  may  have  excited,  and  give 
you  the  best  advice  I  am  capable  of. 

"'  Judge  IsTowlin,  Doct.  Pitman  and  yourself  get  up  a 
letter,  directed  to  Brig.-Gen.  McKean,  Palmyra,  Mo., 
through  me  as  Provost-Marshal  of  Montgomery  county. 
Take  humanity  for  your  text;  appeal  to  him  through 
the  tears  of  your  wife  and  helpless  children ;  let  Govern 
ment  officers  alone;  agree  to  report  to  me  once  a  week 
in  person,  if  it  should  be  considered  necessary;  give 
every  assurance  that  your  lips  will  be  sealed  in  future 
as  to  the  utterance  of  treason,  directly  or  indirectly ; 
send  the  letter  to  me  and  I  will  forward  it,  with  such 
recommendation  as  I  may  deem  proper  and  right,  and, 
if  that  fails,  I  am  at  the  end  of  my  row.  The  success 
of  this  thing  will  very  much  depend  on  keeping  my  ad 
vice  to  yourselves.  I  may  be  mistaken,  but  I  believe 
your  liberation  may  be  effected  in  that  way.  Give  my 
respects  to  Judge  Nowlin  and  Doctor  Pitman. 
"'Yours,  &c., 

"'A.  C.  STEWART,  Prov.-Marshal.' 

"  To  the  above  noble  letter  I  made  the  following  reply: 

"  <  ASHBY'S  MILLS,  MONTGOMERY  Co.,  INDIANA,  ) 

"'May  4,  1863.      j 

« <  Mr.  A.  G.  Stewart,  Provost-Marshal,  Danville,  Mo,  : 

"'DEAR  SIR  :  Yours  of  the  26th  April  is  to  hand,  has 
been  read  and  contents  noted.  And  in  reply  let  me  sa}^, 
I  regret  that  you  considered  my  letter  in  its  whole  tenor 
'invidious,  offensive  and  insulting/  notwithstanding  my 
protest  against  such  a  construction.  I  knew  the  task  I 
had  undertaken  was  difficult,  for  there  seems  to  be 


MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI.  405 

something  about  official  position  which  is  always  more  or 
less  impatient  of  contradiction.  And  hence  it  was  reason 
able  to  conclude  that  this  is  true  of  military  officers,  who 
feel  that  it  is  theirs  to  command  and  for  others  to  obey  or 
submit j  and  not  to  reason  or  question.  The  difficulty  was 
to  so  employ  language  as  to  convey  some  idea  of  my 
righteous  indignation  at  the  injustice  of  my  treatment,  and 
which  would  at  the  same  time  be  respectful  and  courteous 
toward  those  in  authority.  And  I  question  very  much 
whether  you  yourself,  in  my  circumstances,  would,  if 
you  could,  have  done  better.  I  was,  with  only  a  few 
days'  notice,  forced  away  from  the  fellowship  and  pas 
toral  oversight  of  hundreds  of  beloved  brethren ;  from 
a  most  dependent  and  afflicted  family;  from  my  only 
means  of  their  support;  from  the  graves  of  my  kindred, 
and  everything  of  earth  that  was  dear;  was  denied  the 
privilege  of  going  by  St.  Louis,  where  I  might  have 
reached  the  ears  of  power  and  have  gained  a  revocation 
of  my  order  of  banishment;  with  limited  means,  was 
compelled  to  travel  a  circuitous  and  expensive  route  to 
my  place  of  exile  ;  was  denied  the  privilege  of  living  in 
the  loyal  State  of  Illinois,  where  I  had  kindred,  and  it 
would  have  cost  me  nothing;  was  denied  the  sympathy 
of  friends  who  would  have  helped  me  financially,  but 
were  afraid;  was  sent  into  a  land  of  strangers,  under 
Government  censure,  where,  without  sympathy,  if  with 
out  money,  a  man  had  better  be  dead;  was  not  allowed 
to  know  the  charges  against  me,  who  were  my  accusers, 
or  even  the  semblance  of  a  trial,  though  I  had  sought 
one  of  Gen.  Merrill,  of  Gen.  Curtis,  of  Gen.  Ilallcek,  of 
Gov.  Gamble,  of  Attorney-General  Bates,  of  Secretary 
Stanton  and  of  President  Lincoln,  and  had  done  this, 


406  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

directly  and  indirectly,  through  men  of  commanding  in 
fluence,  whose  loyalty  was  above  suspicion,  and  all  this 
without  success;  felt,  yea  knew,  that  I  was  innocent ;  that 
there  could  be  no  truthful  evidence  of  my  being  guilty 
of  any  crime ;  knew  that  I  was  suffering  all  this  to 
gratify  the  malignity  of  secret  enemies  who  had  deceived 
the  military  commander  and  secured  my  banishment ',, 
enemies  who,  like  the  midnight  assassin,  did  their  work 
and  then  slunk  away  to  gloat  over  the  misery  they  had 
caused ;  felt  satisfied  that  I  was  thus  persecuted  for  an 
ecclesiastical  and  not  for  a  political  reason  ;  was  sure  the 
Government  could  not  be  benefited  by  my  persecution 
nor  injured  by  my  return  to  my  family;  and,  finally,  be 
came  thoroughly  convinced  that  the  influence  that  con 
trolled  the  action  of  those  who  had  the  power  to  release 
me  from  the  binding  force  of  this  order,  or  to  keep  me 
in  exile,  was  in  or  near  Danville ;  arid,  in  a  word,  was 
satisfied  that  I  had  found  out  the  locality  of  the  authors 
of  my  trouble  and  why  they  persecuted  me,  but  the 
identical  names  of  my  persecutors  I  did  not  know;  and 
hence,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  considerations,  I  wrote 
you  in  the  way  I  did.  Now,  interpret  my  leter  in  the 
light  of  my  circumstances,  and  imagine  yourself  in  my 
condition,  and  you  will  be  able  to  '  comprehend  it/  and 
to  excuse  anything  that  may  seem  'discourteous  or  in 
sulting/  especially  when  I  assure  you  nothing  of  the 
kind  was  intended.  You  have  my  thanks  for  your  prompt 
and  manly  reply  to  my  letter.  There  are  times  when  I 
would  rather  a  man  would  abuse  me  a  little  than  not  an 
swer  me  at  all,  and  this  is  one  of  those  times.  You  are 
the  only  officer  who  had  the  condescension,  kindness, 
humanity,  or  whatever  else  you  may  please  to  call  it,  to 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  407 

answer  a  single  one  of  my  numerous  appeals  for  deliv 
erance  from  oppression,  or  for  instruction  as  to  where 
or  how  I  might  obtain  it.  To  your  praise  be  this  spoken. 
It  affords  me  much  pleasure,  also,  to  learn  from  yourself 
that  you  had  no  hand  in  securing  my  banishment,  or 
knowledge  of  it  until  after  it  occurred.  I  wish  I  could 
think  the  same  of  every  other  citizen  of  Danville. 

"'  And  now  that,  in  accordance  with  your  wish,  I  am 
addressing  you  as  a  private  citizen,  ma}'  I  ask,  and  con 
fidently  expect,  that  you  will  give  me  the  names  of  my 
accusers,  and  the  nature  of  their  accusations  against  me, 
if  there  are  any,  together  with  the  names  of  those  loyal 
men  whose  sworn  testimony  was  sent  to  Gen.  McKcan 
in  regard  to  the  'propriety'  of  allowing  me  to  come 
home,  and  the  substance  of  what  each  one  said  ?  As  that 
is  the  nearest  a  trial  of  anything  else  I  have  had,  should 
not  the  accused  be  allowed  to  know  his  accusers,  the  names 
of  the  witnesses  and  the  nature  of  their  testimony  against 
him?  You  reprehend  me  very  severely  for  insinuating 
that  you  have  any  'direct  control  of  my  case.'  Well,  I 
did  not  suppose  you  had  authority  to  revoke  the  order  of 
banishment  ;  but  I  did  suppose,  and  do  still  suppose,  that 
you  and  your  friends  of  that  vicinity  can  influence  Gen. 
McKean  to  i evoke  the  order  or  not,  just  as  you  wish  ; 
and  that  you  have  control  of  my  case  in  that  way. 
And  hence  it  is  that  I  am  so  thankful  to  you,  and  so 
much  encouraged  by  your  kind  offer  to  use  your  influ 
ence  with  the  commanding  officer  to  set  aside  this  order 
and  permit  me  to  return  home.  And  I  am  sure  if  you 
do  promptly  and  vigorously  exert  your  influence  in  that 
direction  you  are  certain  of  success. 

"  '  Among  your  items  of  advice  you  say,  '  Give  every 


408  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

assurance  that  your  lips  will  be  sealed  in  future  as  to 
the  utterance  of  treason,  directly  or  indirectly/  ]S~ow, 
as  this  is,  to  my  mind,  an  intimation  that  some  one,  or 
all  three  of  us,  are  charged  with  having  been  guilty  of 
treasonable  utterances,  and  hence  are  required  to  give 
assurance  that  we  will  do  so  no  more,  I  wish  to  say  for 
myself  that,  if  such  be  the  intimation,  I  deny  the  allega 
tion  in  toto  ;  for  I  have  neither  uttered  nor  acted  treason, 
nor  do  I  expect  to  do  either  in  future.  And  if  I  am 
permitted  to  return,  and  you  can  protect  me  from  the 
tongue  of  slander,  and  the  secret  enemies  that  with  con 
summate  mendacity  hound  my  steps  and  torture  and 
misrepresent  my  language  and  conduct,  you  will  hear 
nothing  of  treason,  either  in  utterance  or  action.  But, 
if  that  can  not  be  done — if  the  tongue  of  slander  and 
falsehood  against  me  can  not  be  silenced  in  any  other 
way — then  give  a  fair  trial,  and  make  these  secret  liars, 
who  whisper  falsehoods  into  official  ears  against  those 
they  hate,  'face  the  music,'  and  I  will  vindicate  my  in 
nocence.  Upon  that  subject  I  can  make  no  further  pro 
mises.  A  mere  charge  of  treason,  you  know,  is  no  evidence 
of  guilt.  The  immaculate  Son  of  Man  was  accused  of 
rebellion,  sedition  and  treason,  with  blasphemy,  and  with 
being  the  agent  of  the  prince  of  devils  !  Of  Innocence  it 
self  they  said,  'He  is  not  fit  to  live ;  away  with  him !  crucify 
him !  crucify  him !'  And  '  If  they  have  done  these  things 
in  the  green  tree,  what  will  they  not  do  in  the  dry?' 
And  the  same  divine  authority  has  said,  'If  any  man 
will  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  he  must  suffer  persecution,' 
and  I  have  made  my  calculations  accordingly.  As  to 
your  other  suggestions,  I  wish  to  say  that  I  will  here 
with  transmit  to  Gen.  McKean,  through  you,  a  request, 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  409 

or  petition,  for  the  revocation  of  this  order  in  my  case, 
accompanied  with  a  few  of  the  reasons  why  I  make  it, 
which  I  will  thank  you  to  send  to  him,  if  3-011  please, 
together  with  such  remarks  and  recommendations  as  you 
may  think  proper  to  make.  Please  let  me  hear  from 
you  at  an  early  day,  and  much  oblige, 
"'Most  respectfully, 

"'I*.  II.   SPENCER/ 

"The  petition  was  sent  to  General  McKoan,  through 
the  Provost-Marshal  of  Montgomery  county,  Mo.,  to 
gether  with  the  best  appeal  that  he  could  make  in  our 
favor.  But  the  only  notice  he  seems  to  have  given  it 
was  to  treat  it  with  silent  contempt. 

"  The  following  is  a  copy  of  that  petition  : 

"'AsiiBY's  MILLS,  INC.,  May  7,  1863. 
"  'Brigadier-Gen.  McKean,  Com.,,  Palmyra,  Mo.  : 

"  'DEAR  SIR — Will  you  please  to  revoke  the  order  of 
Gen.  Merrill,  of  the  13th  January,  1803,  banishing  me 
from  the  State  of  Missouri  ?  A  few  of  the  reasons  why 
I  ask  you  to  do  this  are — 

"  '  1st.  The  order  was  unjust.  The  General  who  issued 
this  order  did  not  know  me,  was  dependent  upon  others 
for  his  information  concerning  me,  and  was  evidently 
deceived  by  my  personal  enemies,  or  he  never  would  have 
issued  it. 

"  ( 2d.  I  have  never  engaged  in  this  rebellion  in  any 
way,  nor  violated  any  law,  civil  or  military;  and,  there 
fore,  am  not  deserving  of  this  punishment. 

"'3d.  I  have  a  wife  and  six  small,  helpless  children, 
whose  ages  range  from  two  to  tic  dee  years,  from  whom 
I  have  been  forcibly  separated  for  more  than  three 


410  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

months,  and  who  very  much  need  my  attention,  and, 
therefore,  humanity,  to  say  nothing  of  the  higher  claims 
of  truth  and  justice,  demands  compliance  with  this  re 
quest. 

"  '4th.  If  permitted  to  return,  I  expect  to  be,  as  I  have 
ever  been,,  a  law-abiding  and  good  citizen,  and,  therefore, 
the  Government  can  not  be  benefited  by  my  remaining 
in  exile  nor  injured  by  my  return  to  my  family. 

"  '  5th.  As  it  is  the  duty  and  glory  of  a  Government 
to  protect  its  citizens  in  the  possession  of  all  their  legiti 
mate  rights,  I  ask,  and  hope  it  will  be  your  pleasure  to 
grant,  that  I  may  return  to  my  family  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  untrammeled  liberty  that  I  had  before  my  banish 
ment. 

" (  This  petition  will  be  sent  to  your  headquarters  by 
Mr.  A.  C.  Stewart,  Provost-Marshal,  Danville,  Mo.,  ac 
companied  by  such  remarks  and  recommendations  as  he 
may  think  proper  to  make. 

'"In   the   confident  expectation  that  you  will  grant 
this  just  and  reasonable  request  at  an  early  day, 
"  ( I  am,  most  respectfully, 

«<B.  II.   SPENCER.' 

"  After  being  compelled  to  remain  long  enough  in 
exile  to  form  character  and  make  friends  amongst  stran 
gers,  at  the  end  of  nine  months  some  of  the  most  promi 
nent  Union  men  of  Indiana,  on  the  81st  August,  1863, 
sent  the  following  petition  to  the  Provost-Marshal  Gen 
eral  of  the  department  of  the  Missouri : 
"<  To  Lieut.-Col.  J.  0.  Broadhead,  P.  M.  G.  of  Missouri, 

St.  Louis,  Mo.,  or  to  whomsoever  this  petition  should  be 

addressed  : 

"  'The  undersigned  petitioners  beg  leave  respectfully 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  411 

to  represent  to  the  proper  authorities  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  that  we  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  resi 
dents  of  the  counties  of  Montgomery  and  Putnam,  in 
the  State  of  Indiana;  that  we  arc  now  and  ever  have 
been  loyal  and  devoted  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States;  that  we  are  supporters  of  the  present  Adminis 
tration  thereof,  and  that  we  are  in  favor  of  using  all 
lawful  ways  and  means  for  suppressing  the  present  re 
bellion  and  preserving  the  Union  established  by  our 
fathers  ;  we,  therefore,  cordially  endorse  all  and  every 
one  of  the  measures  of  the  Government  having  these 
much  desired  objects  in  view. 

"  '  We  beg  leave  further  to  represent  that  there  have 
been  residing  in  our  midst,  in  our  immediate  vicinity, 
for  the  past  six  or  seven  months,  three  individuals,  said 
to  be  citizens  of  Montgomery  county,  in  the  State  of 
Missouri,  and  to  have  been  banished  from  that  State  by 
the  military  authorities  there,  viz.  :  II.  AY.  Pitman,  B. 
II.  Spencer  and  David  "W.  !N"owlin. .  While  we  can  not 
know  the  causes  that  led  to  the  banishment  of  these 
men,  we  would  state  that  they  came  among  us  un 
der  the  ban  of  the  Government,  and  we  looked  upon 
them  as  objects  of  suspicion.  They  and  their  conduct 
have  been  closely  observed  and  narrowly  scrutinized, 
not  to  say  strictly  watched  by  our  party,  and  we  deem 
it  but  sheer  justice  to  declare,  candidly  and  emphatically, 
that  after  an  observation  of  the  length  of  time  indicated 
above  we  have  seen  nothing  in  these  men  that  in  our 
judgment  w^ould  require  that  they  longer  be  kept  in 
exile/ 

"'They  are  represented  to  us  as  men  having  families 
dependent  greatly  on  them  for  support,  and  every  feei- 


412  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

ing  of  humanity  is  enlisted  in  their  behalf,  if  the  inter 
ests  of  the  Government  do  not  imperatively  require 
their  continuance  in  exile.  With  the  lights  before  us, 
and  in  view  of  the  facts  that  these  men  have  resided  for 
the  past  six  or  seven  months  in  a  population  greatly 
excited  on  political  issues,  and  among  whom  sundry  dis 
loyal  practices  have  been  rife,  in  which  they  have  had 
ample  opportunities  to  have  partaken  if  they  had  been 
so  inclined,  and  yet  our  observation  has  not  been  suffi 
cient  to  detect  them  as  aiders  or  abettors  in  these 
disloyal  practices ;  we  feel  free,  therefore,  to  declare 
emphatically  our  convictions  that  the  interests  of  the 
Government  will  not  be  advanced  by  a  longer  continu 
ance  of  their  exile ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  satisfied 
that  those  interests  would  be  promoted  by  a  revocation 
of  the  order  banishing  them  from  Missouri.  We,  there 
fore,  in  behalf  of  these  exiles,  pray  the  authorities  in 
Missouri  who  are  empowered  to  do  so  to  revoke  the 
order  banishing  the  said  II.  W.  Pitman,  B.  II.  Spencer 
and  David  W.  Nowlin  from  the  said  State  of  Missouri, 
and  to  release  them  from  further  pains  and  penalties 
in  the  premises;  and  as  loyal  citizens  in  duty  bound, 
we  will  ever  pray,  &c. 

(Signed)  "'JOHN  W.  HARRISON, 

"<DR.  II.  LABARRE, 

"'FRANKLIN    M.    MCMURRAY, 

"<DR.   GEORGE  W.   MILLER, 
"'  JAMES  KNOX, 

<«J.    J.    BlLLINGSLEY, 
"<A.    D.    BlLLINGSLEY/ 

"The   undoubted   loyalty  of  these   petitioners,   and 
their  prominence  in  social  and  political  circles  during 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  413 

Mr.  Lincoln's  Administration,  received  the  following 
endorsement,  which  accompanied  their  petition  and 
formed  a  part  of  it : 

a'I  have  known  the  signers  of  this  paper  lono-  and 
well;  they  are  true  and  loyal  citizens  of  Indiana,  and 
are  all  supporters  of  the  Administration.  They  are 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  character,  and  their  statements 
are  entitled  to  full  credit. 

"<II.  S.  LANE,  U.  S.  Senator/ 

"  <  The  gentlemen  who  signed  the  foregoing  statement 
are  of  undoubted  loyalty,  and  their  representations  are 
worthy  of  credit. 

"(0.  P.  MORTON,  G-ov.  of  Indiana.' 

"  And  now,  by  way  of  showing  how  difficult  it  was  for 
those  in  prison  or  exile  to  obtain  a  hearing  at  headquar 
ters,  in  consequence  of  official  routine,  etiquette,  or  what 
is  technically  called  'Red  Tape,'  I  give  the  following 
inscription,  which  was  written  on  the  outside  of  the 
above  petition  before  it  was  returned  to  the  petitioners. 
It  seems  first  to  have  come  into  the  hands  of  some  sub- 
official,  who  read  it  and  then  wrote  on  it  a  digest  of  its 
contents,  as  follows : 

"  <  Petition.  Citizens  of  Indiana.  P.  102  (P.  N.  6\)  63. 
That  II.  A\r.  Pitman,  B.  II.  Spencer  and  D.  W.  Kowlin, 
exiles  from  Montgomery  county,  Mo.,  be  permitted  to 
return  to  their  families  and  homes,  as  they  have  been 
closely  watched  while  here  and  have  always  conducted 
themselves  as  Union  men.  These  petitioners  are  in 
dorsed  by  the  Governor  of  Indiana.' 

"  This  sub-official  then  seems  to  have  sent  it  to  the 
P.  M.  General  of  the  Department,  who,  without  grant 
ing  or  promising  to  grant  the  petition,  sent  it  back  to 


414  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Gov*  Morton,  with  the  following  explanation  written 
on  it : 

"  <  HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  MISSOURI, 
"  <  OFFICE  OF  THE  P.  M.   G. , 

" i  ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Sept.  8, 1863. 

" { Respectfully  returned  to  his  Excellency,  O.  P. 
Morton,  Governor  of  Indiana,  with  the  information  that 
there  are  no  papers  on  the  cases  of  the  persons  named 
in  the  within  petition  in  this  office.  ^Neither  does  their 
names  appear  upon  the  records.  They  were  probably 
banished  by  order  of  some  district  commander. 

"  'By  order  of  Lieut, -Col.  J.  O.  Broadhead. 

«  <  II.  II.  HAINE, 
"  '  Lieut,  and  A.  P.  M.  G.  Dept,  of  the  Missouri/ 

"Upon  receiving  it  Governor  Morton  sent  it  to  Sen 
ator  Lane,  who  sent  it  to  the  petitioners  with  the  follow 
ing  explanation  : 

"  t  This  paper  was  to-day  returned  to  me  by  Governor 
Morton,  with  the  indorsements  on  it.  Sept.  7, 1863. 

"'II.  S.  LANE.' 

"  Just  think  of  it !  "No  trial,  no  charges,  nothing  for 
us  or  against  us,  not  on  the  records,  no  papers  in  our 
cases,  and  yet  we  in  exile  and  compelled  to  stay  there  ! 
But  we  employed  one  of  Indiana's  noblest  lawyers,  the 
Hon.  Samuel  C.  Wilson,  of  Crawfordsville,  to  take  that 
petition  and  go  with  it  in  person  to  Gen.  Schofield's 
headquarters.  The  result  was  an  unconditional  revoca 
tion  of  the  order  of  banishment,  on  the  16th  Sept.,  1863, 
which  is  as  follows  : 

"<HEADQ'RS  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  MISSOURI,  1 
ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Sept,  15th,  1863.      j 
"'Special  Orders  Xo.  2Z2.~\ 

<«I.    Dr.  H.  W.  Pitman,  David  Nowlin  and  B.  H. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  415 

Spencer,  citizens  of  Montgomery  county,  Missouri,  here 
tofore  banished  to  Indiana,  to  remain  there  during  the 
war,  arc  permitted  to  remain  in  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  outside  of  the  limits  of  this  Department.  They 
•will  report  their  places  of  residence  the  first  of  each 
month  during  the  war  to  the  Provost-Marshal  General 
of  this  Department. 

"'By  command  of 'Major-General  Schofield. 

"<WM.  W.  ENO,  Ass't  Adj't-Gen'l. 

"<B.  II.  Spencer,  per  Maj.  Dunn.' 

"The  foregoing  facts  and  documents  are  a  mere  tith 
ing  of  what  might  be  given  to  the  same  effect,  and  go 
to  show  most  clearly  that  I  was  persecuted  in  various 
ways,  and  banished  from  my  helpless  family  for  ten 
long  months,  for  no  higher  and  no  other  crime  than  that 
I  was  a  Southern  Methodist  preacher  !, 

TEST  OATH. 

"The  following  is  a  mere  sample  of  numerous  other 
indictments  against  me  for  preaching  without  taking 
the  Missouri  test  oath : 

"'Know  all  men,  by  these  presents,  that  we,  B.  II. 
Spencer,  as  principal,  and  Thomas  Ivemhle  and  A.Bige- 
low,  as  securities,  are  held  and  firmly  bound  unto  the 
State  of  Missouri  in  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
the  payment  whereof,  well  and  truly  to  be  made,  we 
bind  ourselves,  our  heirs,  administrators  and  executors, 
firmty  by  these  presents.  The  conditions  of  the  above 
bond  are,  that  whereas  B.  II.  Spencer  has  been  indicted 
by  the  Grand  Jury  of  Montgomery  county  for  preaching 
without  taking  the  oath  ;  Now,  if  the  said  B.  II.  Spencer 
shall  personally  appear  before  the  Judge  of  our  Circuit 


416  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

Court  on  the  first  day  of  the  next  term  of  said  Court, 
said  term  of  said  Court  to  be  held  at  the  court-house  in 
the  town  of  Danville,  in  and  for  said  county,  on  the 
fourth  Monday  of  next  May,  and  answer  to  said  indict 
ment,  and  not  depart  therefrom  without  the  leave  of 
said  Court,  then  said  bond  to  be  void,  otherwise  to  re 
main  in  full  force  and  effect.  Witness  our  signatures 
this  the  18th  day  of  May,  A.  D.  1866. 

"<B.  II.  SPENCER, 
"'THOMAS  KEMBLE, 
"<ABNER  BIGELOW.' 

"My  refusing  to  take  this  oath  was  not  the  result  of 
an  unwillingness  to  obey  the  constitution  and  laws  of 
the  State  of  Missouri,  for  I  had  already  taken  the  'Con 
vention  oath/  the  'Halleck  oath'  and  the  'Bosecrans 
oath/  and  had  sworn  fealty  to  the  State  as  often,  and  in 
as  many  ways  as  reason,  conscience  and  loyalty  would 
allow.  And  hence,  when  civil  authority  came  between 
me  and  my  Divine  Master,  and  virtually  said,  I  will  al 
low  you  to  obey  your  Master  if  you  will  sioear  fealty  to  me 
first,  I  believed  it  to  be  luicked  thus  to  surrender  the 
claims  of  Christ  to  the  demands  of  Cassar,  and  resolved, 
at  the  hazard  of  fines  and  imprisonments,  yea,  even  of 
life  itself,  that  I  would  refuse  compliance  with  this  un 
righteous  requirement.  I  believed  they  had  as  much 
right  to  say  what  should  be  preached  as  to  say  who  should 
preach  it!  Hence  I  refused,  and  numerous  indictments 
were  the  result. 

"  Having  scarcely  commenced  the  recital  of  my  per 
secutions  as  a  Southern  Methodist  preacher,  I  find  this 
article  already  too  long,  and  therefore  close,  with  the 
kindest  wishes  for  all  my  persecutors,  and  an  earnest 
prayer  for  their  salvation. 

"I  am,  truly  and  fraternally, 

"B.   II.  SPENCER." 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  417 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

REVS.   D.    B.   COOPER,  H.    N.    WATTS  AND    T1IOS.    GLAXVILLE. 

Rev.  D.  7?.  Cooler— Attempt  Made  to  Pude  him  on  a  Rail— Defeated 
by  the  Timely  Appearance  of  Soldiers — Particulars  Furnished  by 
Dr.  N".  W.  Harris— 7fcw.  H.  TV.  Watts—  A  Native  of  Missouri— 
Efforts  Made  to  Place  the  Old  Ministers  under  Disability  or  Hun 
them  out  of  the  State— Mr.  Watts  Arrested  — Silenced —  Corre 
spondence  with  Provost-Marshals  lu'id  and  Sanderson—  •'  Test 
Oatb" — R-v.  TJios.  Glanville — An  Englishman  by  IVirth — Karlv 
Life — Peculiar  Trials — Manner  of  Life  as  a  Citizen  :nid  a  Minister 
— Driven  from  Home  in  ISGo — Returns  and  Obtains  Written  Per 
mission  to  Preach — Warned  not  to  till  his  Appointment  on  Sab 
bath,  September  20,  18(53— Remains  at  Home— That  Night  he  is 
Shot  Through  his  Window— Shot  a  Second  and  Third  Time,  and 
Expires  Praying  for  his  Murderers— His  Eldest  Son  Shot  and 
Killed  the  Same  Night — Details  Furnished  by  J.  II.  Ross  and  Rev. 
John  Monroe — Conclusion. 

REV.  D.  B.   COOPER. 

The  following  account  oi  an  attempt  to  mob  and  ride 
on  a  rail  this  humble  and  worthy  minister  of  the  gospel 
will  be  perused  with  interest;  as  it  is  furnished  by  an 
eye  witness  and  an  intelligent  physician,  whose  state 
ments  will  not  be  called  in  question.  But  for  the  fact 
that  he  is  "  not  a  professor  of  Christianity/'  and  author 
izes  the  use  of  his  name  with  respectable  references,  the 
language  would  be  somewhat  toned  down  and  tempered 
to  a  milder  moral  zone.  But  it  is  thought  best  to  give 
the  communication  as  received,  as  it  details  some  import 
ant  facts,  and  throws  light  upon  the  animus  of  others: 
"PILOT  GROVE,  COOPER  Co.,  Mo.,  April  25,  1869. 
"Kev.  P.  M.  Pincliard,  St.  Louis,  No.  : 

"In  the  summer  of  1863  Ilev.  I).  B.  Cooper,  now  of 
Mt.  Sterling,   Ky  ,  was  on   the  circuit  in  Linn  county, 
27 


418  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

Mo.  He  is  one  of  the  purest  men  I  have  ever  known, 
and  remr,1!- ably  reticent.  I  knew  him  intimately  and 
well,  being  his  physician  and  a  personal  friend.  He 
never  preached  or  talked  politics,  even  to  his  most  inti 
mate  friends  and  acquaintances.  If  there  was  but  one 
man  in  Missouri  during  those  wicked  years  of  horror 
walking  humbly  before  God  and  acting  uprightly  to 
ward  his  fellow-men,  that  man  was  D.  B.  Cooper. 

"  On  Sunday  he  was  preaching  in  Laclcde,  rny  then 
residence ;  some  one  whispered  to  me  that  some  soldiers 
we-  e  outside  intending  to  ride  the  preacher  on  a  rail, 
I  went  out  and  sure  enough  there  were  some  half-dozen 
soldiers  who  had  come  up  from  Brookiield,  had  gone 
into  a  ' loyal'  doggery,  imbibed  freely,  and  meeting 
some  'loyal  Methodists/  were  told  that  a  rebel  was 
preaching.  Under  the  stimuli  of  bad  whisky  and  the 
worse  hearts  of  the  'God  and  morality'  Methodists,  they 
had  come  to  the  church  with  a  fence-rail  intending  to 
commit  an  outrage  upon  this  gentleman.  But  'man 
proposes  and  God  disposes.' 

"I  tried  to  dissuade  them  from  their  purpose,  but 
could  not,  and  went  back  into  church  to  a  lieutenant  of 
Col.  McFerran's  regiment,  then  stationed  in  Laclede, 
and  told  him  to  go  to  Col.  McFerran  and  tell  him  to  send 
a  file  of  soldiers  immediately.  I  knew  McFerran  could 
be  relied  on,  as  he  was  a  Democrat  and  a  gentleman. 
There  was  no  time  to  lose  ;  service  was  nearly  over,  and 
neither  Mr.  Cooper  nor  his  congregation  knew  anything 
of  the  impending  outrage.  The  upper  floor  of  a  'loyal' 
Methodist's  house  near  by  was  full  of  'God's  elect'  to 
witness  the  fun.  Just  before  the  service  closed  the 
braves  crowded  into  the  house,  and  when  the  congrega- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  419 

tion  was  dismissed  they,  the  soldiers,  were  so  situated 
that  they  had  to  leave  the  house  last.  When  they  came 
out  and  were  about  to  lift  their  rail  at  the  side  of  the 
house  and  seize  Mr.  Cooper — who  was  yet  in  ignorance 
of  their  designs — they,  and  all  but  myself,  were  sur 
prised  to  see  two  files  of  soldiers,  with  fixed  bayonets, 
marching  down  on  us  so  as  to  encompass  the  entire 
crowd.  As  no  violence  had  been  done,  no  arrests  were 
made.  The  miserable  tools  of  the  bad-hearted  fanatics 
slunk  away  like  whipped  curs,  leaving  their  pious  (?) 
instigators  gnashing  their  teeth  and  calling  down  curses 
upon  McFerran  and  myself.  I  don't  think  their  prayers 
were  ever  answered. 

"  These  maudlin  soldiers  were  not  to  blame.  They 
were  mere  tools  in  the  hands  of  the  base-hearted  men 
and  women  who  instigated  the  outrage.  This  act  is 
only  a  type  of  the  general  conduct  of  this  people  during 
the  war  who  are  now  whining  for  union  with  you. 

"I  am  no  professor  of  Christianity,  but  if  such  people 
are  Christians,  or  your  union  with  them  would  compose 
a  Christian  body,  I  pray  the  Giver  of  all  good  to  incline 
my  heart  to  heathenism  rather  than  such  a  mongrel 
abomination. 

"  I  was  living  in  Boonville  when  they  committed  the 
theft  of  your  church  there,  and  know  all  about  it;  but 
you  will  get  the  particulars  of  that  honest  (?)  act  from 
others. 

"I  have  given  you  the  facts,  but  have  taken  no  pains, 
as  you  see.  You  may  have  to  re-write  it.  You  are  at 
liberty  to  insert  it  in  your  book  over  my  signature  if 
you  wish. 

"Your  friend,  K  W.  HARRIS," 


420  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

References  were  furnished  amply  sufficient  to  endorse 
the  veracity  of  Dr.  Harris,  had  it  needed  such  endorse 
ment. 

A  complete  history  of  those  perilous  times  would  un 
veil  many  similar  acts  nipped  in  the  bud,  or  plotted  and 
projected,  but  defeated  by  the  timely  interference  of 
good  men. 

Many  Southern  Methodist  preachers  were  threatened 
with  a  ride  on  a  rail  and  a  coat  of  tar  and  feathers ;  but 
the  presence  of  peaceable  citizens  and  the  fear  of  mili 
tary  interference  deterred  the  rabble  in  most  cases  from 
committing  the  deeds  to  which  they  were  instigated. 

The  Bev.  B.  E.  Baxter,  now  in  Montana,  and  the 
Bev.  H.  H.  Hedgepeth,  now  in  heaven,  and  others,  were 
forced  to  leave  their  work  in  Andrew,  Holt  and  adjoin 
ing  counties  in  consequence  of  such  threats.  Even  the 
persons  and  lives  of  all  Southern  Methodist  ministers 
were  in  constant  peril  in  that  portion  of  the  State  until 
after  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  had  de 
clared  the  test  oath  of  the  New  Constitution  unconsti 
tutional.  Indeed,  not  until  1867  was  it  safe  for  one  of 
the  proscribed  and  threatened  of  the  M.  E.  Church, 
South,  to  be  seen  or  heard  in  that  part  of  the  State 
northwest  of  St.  Joseph,  as  facts  hereafter  to  be  nar 
rated  will  show. 

But  for  the  present,  and  for  the  sake  of  some  little 
chronological  order,  events  in  Southeast  Missouri  claim 
attention  -r  and,  first, 

BEV.  HENRY  N.  WATTS. 

Why  were  native  Missourians  in  the  ministry  marked 
as  the  special  objects  of  displeasure?  Were  they  sin 
ners  above  all  the  men  who  lived  and  labored  in  this- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  421 

goodly  State,  that  such  exceptional  notice  should  bo 
taken  of  them  in  the  administration  of  pious  loyally? 
Possibly  the  discrimination  was  made  upon  the  ground 
of  personal  influence  with  the  people.  That  they  had 
more  influence  with  the  people  and  stood  higher  in 
public  estimation  than  any  imported  men  will  not  be 
questioned;  but  that  their  influence  was  used  for  evil 
purposes,  either  political,  social  or  moral,  is  distinctly 
denied.  That  others  were  envious  of  their  well-earned 
position,  and  jealous  of  their  power  over  the  people  and 
consequent  ability  to  control  the  moral  forces  of  the 
State  for  ecclesiastical  advancement  and  distinction,  is 
too  true  to  escape  the  notice  of  history;  for  upon  this 
fact  the  only  rational  hypothesis  can  rest  that  accounts 
for  the  noteworthy  pre-eminence  given  to  the  old  native 
Missouri  ministers  in  these  persecutions.  A  man  who 
had  been  so  long  and  so  well  known  in  the  Missouri 
pulpit  as  the  Eev.  II.  N.  Watts  could  not  escape  the 
heavy  hand  of  the  persecutor,  and  the  distinction  in 
suffering  he  had  gained  in  the  ministry. 

Mr.  Watts  was  admitted  on  trial  in  the  Missouri  Con 
ference,  M.  E.  Church,  South,  at  St.  Louis,  in  1844,  and 
appointed  to  Eipley  Mission,  Cape  Girardeau  District. 

From  that  time  on  he  has  been  a  faithful  laborer  in 
.  his  Master's  vineyard — always  ready  to  go  where  the 
Bishop  appointed  him  without  murmuring  or  gainsay 
ing.  At  times  ho  has  been  called  to  fill  the  chair  of 
Presiding  Elder,  and  also  to  represent  his  Conference  in 
the  General  Conference.  His  fidelity  to  the  sacred 
claims  and  obligations  of  the  gospel  ministry  has  only 
been  equaled  by  his  loyalty  to  the  Church  of  his  choice 
and  his  fidelity  to  her  distinctive  peculiarities.  lie  was 


422  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

always  a  man  of  one  work,  and  never  concerned  him 
self  particularly  about  the  civil  and  political  affairs  of 
the  country. 

The  policy  of  the  Church  and  the  saving  principles 
and  power  of  the  gospel  of  grace  were  more  to  him 
than  all  "  the  things  which  belong  unto  Csesar."  He 
thought  that  there  were  men  enough  to  attend  to 
Caesar's  business,  but  none  too  many  ministers  to  keep 
God's  business  with  men  and  man's  interest  in  the 
"  kingdom  of  heaven  "  from  suffering.  Jlence  he  kept 
himself  free  from  political  strifes  and  attended,  with 
singleness  of  heart  and  life,  to  his  holy  calling.  Thus 
he  was  engaged  when  the  war  broke  out,  and  up  to  the 
summer  of  1863  he  had  suffered  very  little  molestation. 
He  had  taken  no  part  in  the  strife  and  committed  no 
act  of  treason  against  the  Government;  was  a  peaceable, 
orderly  citizen. 

In  1863  Mr.  Watts  was  living  in  Charleston,  Missis 
sippi  county,  Mo.,  and  on  the  23d  of  July  was  arrested 
at  his  house  by  a  squad  of  soldiers,  accompanied  by 
Meeker  Thurman,  Aaron  W.  and  John  Grigsby,  and 
taken  to  Columbus,  Ky.  He  was  charged  with  no 
crime,  and  no  offense  against  the  laws  or  peace  of  the 
Government  was  ever  alleged  against  him.  In  vain  did 
he  plead  the  protection  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  He  was  threatened  with  banishment  or 
imprisonment  during  the  war,  unless  he  would  take  and 
subscribe  a  military  oath,  which  was  as  repugnant  to  his 
feelings  as  it  was  oppressive  to  the  rights  of  conscience. 
After  taking  the  oath  to  secure  his  liberty,  and  receiving 
some  personal  abuse  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  he  was 
released  and  permitted  to  return  to  his  home  after  an 
absence  of  several  days. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  423 

In  the  spring  of  1864,  und  while  dipt.  Ewing's  com 
pany  of  militia  were  stationed  in  Charleston,  and  Lieut. 
.Tas.  A.  Heed  was  Ass't  Provost-Marshal,  Mr.  Watts  was 
prohibited  from  preaching  the  gospel  for  several  weeks 
by  military  authority.  He  continued,  however,  1o  travel 
his  circuit  and  hold  religious  services.  lie  would  read 
the  word  of  God,  sing,  pray  and  exhort  the  people  to 
"flee  from  the  wrath  to  come"  and  "  lead  peaceable 
and  quiet  lives  in  all  godliness  and  honesty." 

The  following  is  the  correspondence  between  the 
Assistant  Provost-Marshal  and  Mr.  Watts.  It  will  serve 
to  develop  the  nature  of  the  persecutions  he  suffered  in 
the  light  of  the  official  records  : 

"  OFFICE   ASSISTANT   PROVOST-MARSHAL,  } 
"  CHARLESTON,  Mo.,  March  17,  1864.       f 

"Parson   Watts: 

"  SIR  :  You  will  greatly  oblige  me,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  inconvenience  yourself,  perhaps,  by  calling  at 
this  office  on  or  before  the  19th  inst.,  for  the  purpose  of 
complying  with  'Special  Order  No.  61,'  issued  by  the 
Provost-Marshal  General,  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  March  7,  1864, 
requiring  ministers  of  the  gospel  to  take  the  oath  of 
allegiance  therein  prescribed. 

"Your  non-compliance  with  this  notice  will  be  taken 
as  a  refusal  and  will  be  acted  upon  accordingly. 

"JAMES  A.  REID, 
"  1st  Lieut,  and  Ass't  Provost-Marshal." 

To  which  Mr.  Watts  returned  the  following  reply: 
"  CHARLESTON,  Mo.,  March  18,  1864. 
"Lieut.  James  A.  Reid,  Ass't  Provost-Marshal  : 

"Sin:  Your  note  of  the  17th  inst,  has  been  received, 
asking  me  to  appear  at  your  office  on  or  before  the  19th 


424  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

inst.,  to  comply  with  '  Special  Order  ~No.  61/  concern 
ing  '  convocations,  conferences,  councils,  assemblies/ &c. 

"  1.  I  have  written  to  St.  Louis  for  certain  informa 
tion  on  this  and  other  subjects.  I  would  greatly  prefer 
getting  said  information  before  taking  action  in  this 
matter. 

"  2.  I  assure  you  I  have  not  violated  said  order  by 
attending  any  synod,  council,  conference,  or  any  such 
assembly  under  any  other  name,  since  said  order  was 
issued. 

"  3.  And  as  you  think  preaching  would  be  a  violation 
of  said  order,  I  have  ceased  preaching  since  I  have  heard 
of  this  order.  And  a  private  citizen  is  not  required  to 
take  that  oath,  yourself  being  judge. 

"4.  As  a  private  individual  I  have  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance,  a  copy  of  which  I  have  ;  and, 

"5.  I  have  not  at  any  time,  and  do  not  design  viola 
ting  that  order,  and  with  this  assurance  I  hope  I  shall 
not  be  hurried  in  this  matter. 

"Kespectfully,  H.  1ST.  WATTS." 

Mr.  Watts  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  Pro 
vost-Marshal  General,  St.  Louis : 

"  CHARLESTON,  Mo.,  March  18,  1864. 
"J.  P.  Sanderson,  Pro.-MarsJial  Gen'l,  St.  Louis,  Mo.  : 

"DEAR  SIR— Special  Order  JSTo.  61,  from  your  office, 
dated  the  7th  inst.,  'concerning  religious  convocations, 
synods,  councils,  conferences,  or  assemblies  under  any 
other  name  or  title/  not  being  understood  as  to  the  ex 
tent  of  its  application,  will  you  be  kind  enough  to  answer 
the  following  inquiries : 

"1.  Under  these  terms,  l  convocations,  synods,  &c., 
or  assemblies  under  any  other  name  or  title,'  does  this 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  425 

include  congregational  worship,  or  a  congregation  met 
in  open  church,  with  free  seats,  for  preaching  and  other 
public  services  ?  and  will  each  one  so  assembled  be  re 
quired  to  take  the  oath  prescribed  in  Special  Order 
No.  61? 

"2.  When  an  assembly  of  divines  have  met  to  trans 
act  the  business  of  the  Church,  and  have  taken  the  pre 
scribed  oath,  are  they  expected  then  to  oppose  secession 
and  treason  publicly  from  the  pulpit,  or  only  in  private 
circles  ? 

"  3.  A  minister  who  has  within  the  past  year  taken 
the  oath  of  allegiance  in  another  State,  but  is  now 
traveling  in  this  State,  must  he  again  take  the  oath 
before  he  can  meet  his  congregation  for  public  worship? 

"Answers  to  these  inquiries  will  be  gladly  received, 
if  you  can  find  time  to  answer 

"Your  obedient  servant,, 

"IE.  X.  WATTS." 

The  Assistant  Provost-Marshal  at  Charleston  received 
the  following  letter  from  the  Provost-Marshal  General 
in  answer  to  the  inquiries  of  Mr.  Watts: 

"HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  ov  THE  MISSOURI, 
OFFICE  OF  PROVOST-MARSHAL  GKNKRAL. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  March  24,  1804. 

"  SIR — I  am  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  21st,  en 
closing  your  correspondence  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Watts, 
^nd  asking  for  further  instructions;  and,  also,  I  am  in 
receipt  of  a  letter  from  the  same  Rev.  gentleman,  pro 
pounding  to  me  the  following  questions: 
(See  questions  above.) 

"It  can  not  be  necessary,  either  for  your  guidance  or 
that  of  the  Rev.  gentleman  who  has  propounded  these 
questions  to  me,  to  answer  them  categorically. 


426  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

"  The  order  referred  to  is  too  plain  and  distinct  to  be 
misunderstood.  It  applies,  as  the  language  used  unmis 
takably  indicates,  to  conferences  and  all  other  repre 
sentative  assemblies  convened  to  promote  the  cause  of 
religion  and  morality,  and  not  to  the  ordinary  meetings 
of  Christians  assembled  for  the  business  purposes  of  a 
congregation,  or  benevolent  society,  or  for  the  worship 
of  God.  All  the  objects  of  it  are  answered  when  its 
enforcement  is  confined  to  the  assemblies  indicated  in  it, 
and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  it  forms  no  part  of  its  pur 
pose  or  requirements  that  persons  should  take  the  pre 
scribed  oath  before  proceeding  to  worship  their  Maker 
when  assembled  for  that  purpose. 

"  In  case  of  the  attendance  at  any  assemblage  of  the 
character  indicated  in  said  order  of  any  one  who  has 
already  taken  the  oath  of  allegiance  prescribed  by  the 
laws  of  this  State  for  the  clergy  to  legalize  marriage,  &c., 
any  certificate  or  evidence  of  the  fact  will  be  sufficient 
to  render  him  eligible  without  again  taking  the  pre 
scribed  oath. 

"  But,  while  such  is  the  liberal  construction  of  the 
Order  ISTo.  61,  requiring  no  oath  of  those  divines  who 
have  already  taken  the  required  oath  to  enable  them  to 
perform  all  their  functions,  it  is  no  less  the  determina 
tion  of  the  undersigned  to  enforce  a  rigid  compliance 
with  the  ordinance  of  the  State  Convention  of  June  10, 
1862,  requiring  licensed  and  ordained  preachers  of  the 
gospel  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  therein  prescribed 
before  assuming  to  discharge  the  duties  pertaining  to 
their  avocations  under  the  laws  of  this  State. 

"  Those  who  have  failed  to  do  so,  and  who,  under  the 
pretense  of  preaching  or  worshiping  God,  meet  really 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  427 

for  seditious  purposes,  and,  in  truth,  to  desecrate  and 
violate  the  laws  of  God  and  their  country,  can  not  be 
allowed  so  to  meet  or  carry  on  their  seditious  purposes, 
and  will  be  held  to  a  strict  accountability. 

"I  have  no  inclination,  nor  do  I  conceive  it  to  beany 
part  of  my  duty,  to  answer  the  Rev.  gentleman's  second 
interrogatory,  and  thus  instruct  him  in  his  ministerial 
duties.  My  respect  for  his  profession  obliges  me  to 
presume  that  he  is  familiar  with  the  Bible,  and  needs  no 
such  instruction  from  me.  For  the  information  asked 
in  that  interrogatory  he  will,  therefore,  have  to  refer  to 
the  Bible,  whose  expounder  he  professes  to  be.  lie 
need  but  do  so  in  the  proper  spirit,  and  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  be  guided  by  its  teachings,  to  insure  unto  him 
a  flood  of  light  as  to  his  duty  in  the  premises. 

"You  will  furnish  the  Rev.  Mr.  Watts  with  a  copy  of 
this  letter,  and  be  guided  in  your  own  actions  by  its  in 
structions. 

"Respectfully,  J.  P.  SANDERSON, 

"Prov.-Mar.  Gen'l. 

"Lt,  Jas.  A.  Reid,  Ass't  Pro  -Mar'l,  Charleston,  Mo." 

The  letter  of  the  Provost-Marshal  General  was  for 
warded  to  Mr.  Watts,  through  the  Assistant  Provost- 
Marshal's  office  at  Charleston,  accompanied  by  an  order 
from  the  latter  office  requiring  him  to  take  the  Con 
vention  oath  of  '62,  or  cease  to  preach,  and  report  him 
self  at  headquarters,  St.  Louis.  He  went  to  St.  Louis, 
took  what  was  called  the  a  Gamble  oath/'  returned  home 
&,nd  resumed  his  ministerial  labors. 

The  correspondence  here  given  is  specially  valuable 
for  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  spirit  and  bearing  of 
the  military  authorities  in  the  direct  issue  they  made 


428  MARTYRDOM    IN    MISSOURI. 

with  the  clergy  of  the  State.  Many  ministers  of  the 
gospel  were  more  oppressed  and  persecuted,  but  all  of 
them  did  not  so  far  yield  to  military  authority  on  the 
one  hand,  nor  so  sharply  contend  for  the  rights  of  con 
science  on  the  other. 

The  "  Special  Order,  No.  61,"  has  a  history  of  itself 
that  will  be  unveiled  in  due  time,  and  the  true  nature 
of  the  proscription  and  persecution  under  it  will  be 
better  disclosed  in  another  place. 

This  forcing  the  conscience  of  ministers  by  prescrib 
ing  "test  oaths  "  is  not  a  new  thing.  It  is  as  old  as  the 
second  great  persecution  under  Domitian,  A.  D.  81,  and 
as  cruel  as  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 

When  State  Conventions  and  military  commanders  in 
Missouri  prepared  political  "test  oaths"  for  ministers 
of  the  gospel  as  a  class,  and  ordered  all.  non-juring 
ministers  under  disability,  the  object  was  not  doubtful 
in  the  minds  of  those  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
religious  persecutions. 

Another  martyred  minister  of  the  gospel,  the  horrible 
murder  of  another  of  God's  chosen  messengers  of  salva 
tion,  and  scene  first  of  the  great  Missouri  tragedy  closes, 
the  curtain  falls,  and  both  writer  and  reader  may  seek 
temporary  relief  from  what  Dr.  Summers,  in  a  private 
note,  calls  "a  terrible  narrative."  When  the  curtain 
rises  again  it  will  unveil  other  scenes  in  this  wonderful 
histrionic  drama,  of  which  those  already  presented  are 
but  the  preparation  and  prelude. 

The  trials  and  persecutions  of  the  faithful  men  of 
God  already  narrated  are  sufficient  to  present  the  moral 
and  religious  phases  of  the  war  in  Missouri  to  an  intelli 
gent  public.  Would  to  God  the  pall  of  oblivion  could 


MARTYRDOM     IX     MISSOURI.  429 

settle  down  upon  the  whole  history.  But  if  the  world 
still  retains  its  interest  in  truth;  if  the  Church  is  still 
the  repository  of  the  testimony  of  Jesus  and  the  divinelv 
accredited  authority  for  works  of  righteousness;  if  the 
ministers  of  the  gospel  are  yet  responsihle  for  the  "  faith 
once  delivered  unto  the  saints/'  for  the  puritj-  of  the 
gospel  and  the  integrity  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth, 
and  if  history  is  valuable  for  the  lessons  it  teaches  and 
the  principles  it  vindicates,  then  that  truth,  that  right 
eousness,  that  faith,  that  history,  all  demand  the  record 
here  made,  the  lessons  taught  and  the  principles  vindi 
cated  in  the  trials  and  sufferings  of  God's  annointed  ser 
vants  during  the  recent  reign  of  terror. 

The  following  shocking  narrative  of  murder  must, 
according  to  the  decision  of  the  publisher,  close  the 
first  volume. 

EEV.  THOMAS  GLANVILLE  AND  Sox. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  long  and  favorably 
known  to  the  Church  in  Missouri,  and  was  highly 
esteemed  for  his  integrity,  honesty  and  fidelity  to  prin 
ciple  as  well  as  for  his  general  usefulness  as  a  minister. 

Others  who  knew  him  better  have  furnished  the  fol 
lowing  account  of  his  life  and  labors,  together  with  the 
circumstantial  details  of  the  dark  and  bloody  tragedy 
which  closed  his  career  of  usefulness  on  earth — one  of 
the  most  heartless  and  cruel  assassinations  in  all  the 
dark  history  of  martyrdom  in  Missouri. 

The  following  sketch  has  been  furnished  by  an  inti 
mate  friend  of  the  martyred  minister,  and  will  be  read 
with  mournful  interest : 

"Rev.  Thomas  Glanville  and  Son.— It  was  the  privilege 
of  the  writer  to  be  intimately  acquainted  with  the  sub- 


430  MARTYRDOM    IN     MISSOURI. 

jects  of  this  sketch  for  more  than  a  score  of  years. 
"Without  reference  to  official  documents  or  private  pa 
pers,  I  write  mostly  from  memory,  hoping  thereby  to 
preserve  the  precious  memory  of  two  worthy  men. 

"Rev.  Thomas  Glanville  was  born  in  England  about 
A.  D.  1811,  and  came  to  America  when  about  sixteen 
years  of  age.  He  was  converted  to  God  in  early  life, 
and  after  much  mental  agony  yielded  to  the  conviction 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  preach. 

"Soon  after  he  began  to  preach,  he  joined  the  St. 
Louis  Conference  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  traveled 
several  years.  But  family  afflictions  came  upon  him- — 
his  wife  died  and  left  him  three  children .  He  married 
again  and  soon  afterward  located. 

"  Time  rolled  on  and  ever  found  him  diligent  in  busi 
ness,  fervent  in  spirit,  serving  the  Lord ;  and  laboring 
efficiently  as  a  local  preacher. 

"In  the  fall  of  1852  a  camp-meeting  was  held  in  his 
iieigborhood  by  the  lamented  Leeper,  Anthony  and 
Bond.  Bro.  Glanville's  three  children  were  at  the  altar 
as  penitents.  All  the  tenderest  sympathies  of  a  father's 
heart  went  out  after  them.  How  pointed  his  instructions! 
and  his  prayers  !  O,  how  fervent ! 

"He  told  the  writer  that  he  had  made  a  vow  that  if 
the  Lord  would  accept  his  three  children  at  that  meet 
ing,  he  would  rejoin  the  Conference  and  travel  and 
preach  as  long  as  his  way  seemed  open.  The  Lord  did 
mercifully  accept  his  three  children ;  and,  true  to  his 
vow,  he  rejoined  the  Conference  and  remained  an  ac 
ceptable  member  till  the  day  of  his  death. 

"  When  the  late  civil  war  commenced  and  the  flock 
in  Southwest  Missouri  was  left  for  the  most  part  with- 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  431 

out  a  shepherd,  he  and  the  local  preachers  of  his  neigh 
borhood  met  in  council  and  went  out  'two  and  two' 
and  held  meetings  in  the  most  destitute  neighborhoods. 

"After  a  time  he  was  ordered  by  a  militia  Captain  to 
discontinue  his  preaching.  This  grieved  him  much,  but 
he  yielded  and  remained  silent  for  almost  a  year. 

"  In  February,  1863,  a  meeting  was  appointed  in  one 
of  those  destitute  neighborhoods,  which  he  attended. 
The  <  fire  was  shut  up  in  his  bones/  and  in  company 
with  a  friend  he  waited  on  the  Captain  then  in  com 
mand  in  that  vicinity  and  requested  permission  to 
resume  his  duties  as  a  minister.  To  his  great  joy  he 
received  a  written  permission,  and  the  next  night  he 
preached  a  sermon  full  of  joy  and  comfort, 

"In  July  or  August  following  three  men  called  at 
his  gate  one  dark  night  and  ordered  him  to  leave  the 
country  on  pain  of  death.  A  few  days  after  he  remarked 
to  the  writer  that  he  would  love  to  live  to  see  peace  re 
stored  to  the  country,  and  he  hoped  he  would,,  and  then 
added,  <  Those  fellows  may  kill  me,  but  I  think  not.  Of 
one  thing  I  am  certain,  they  can't  harm  me;  death  has 
no  terrors  for  me,  and  has  not  had  for  fifteen  years.' 

"He  was  a  bold  and  fearless  man.  ''Conscious  inno 
cence  knows  no  fear;'  but  through  the  entreaties  of 
friends  he  left  home  for  a  month  or  more;  and  it  is  to 
be  regretted  that  he  made  up  his  mind  to  return,  and 
did  so,  saying  that  he  would  'risk  the  consequences.' 

"He  published  an  appointment  for  preaching,  and  a 
few  hours  before  the  time  came,  two  militia  soldiers 
waited  on  him  and  informed  him  that  he  would  not  be 
permitted  to  hold  the  service.  He  remained  at  home 
that  Sabbath,  and  remarked  to  a  neighbor,  'Those  fel- 


432  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

lows  will  kill  me,  I  believe;  but  they  shall  never  have 
it  to  say  that  they  shot  me  in  the  back/  That  holy 
Sabbath  was  his  last  on  earth. 

"When  night  came  on  and  good  men  laid  them  clown 
to  peaceful  slumbers,  his  murderers  approached  his 
quiet  dwelling.  A  ball  discharged  from  a  revolver 
passed  through  his  window,  entered  his  face  and  he  fell 
to  the  floor.  To  make  sure  of  his  victim  the  murderer 
raised  the  window  and  reaching  in  shot  him  through 
the  chest.  They  then  went  round,  forced  the  door  and 
three  men  entered.  After  a  few  words  with  Bro.  Glan- 
ville's  son,  one  of  them  remarked  that  he  had  better 
finish  the  old  man,  and  so  saying  shot  him  again.  Thus 
died  the  Rev.  Thomas  Glanville,  in  the  fifty-third  year 
of  his  age. 

"  After  threatening  to  burn  the  house  and  ordering 
the  family  to  leave  on  short  time,  thej^  rode  two  miles 
to  the  residence  of  Bro.  Glanville's  eldest  son,  Mr.  A. 
C.  Glanville,  a  man  of  fine  mind  and  respectable  literary 
attainments,  with  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit,  and  a  mem 
ber  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  South.  They  called  him  up, 
and,  all  unconscious  of  his  father's  fate  and  his  own 
danger,  he  made  a  light.  No  sooner  was  the  light  made 
than  a  ball  passed  through  his  window,  entered  his  head 
and  he  fell  lifeless  on  the  hearth.  Thus  perished  father 
and  son  in  one  night. 

"  Since  their  death  little  has  been  said  in  reference  to 
them ;  but  they  still  live  in  the  hearts  of  many  friends, 
and  it  is  well  known  that  they  bore  the  highest  type  of 
manhood. 

"Bro.  Glanville  had  for  many  years  been  an  ordained 
elder  in  the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  and  while  as  a  preacher 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  433 

he  was  neither  profound  nor  brilliant,  yet  he  possessed 
a  sound  mind,  a  good  understanding  in  the  things  of 
God,  was  a  good  sermonizer  and  improved  every  year, 
BO  that  his  last  days  were  his  best.  Peace  to  his  memory. 

"JOHN    II.    ROSS." 

The  Eev.  John  Monroe,  of  the  St.  Louis  Conference, 
one  of  the  oldest  ministers  in  Missouri,  furnishes  the 
following  sketch  of  the  lamented  Glanville  : 

"The  Rev.  Thomas  Glanville  was  born  in  England, 
May  15,  A.  D.  1811.  Came  to  this  country  about  the 
year  1829  or  1830,  and  a  short  time  afterward  waa  mar 
ried  to  Miss  Donnell,  of  Green  county,  Mo.  Not  long 
after  this  event  he  embraced  religion  and  united  with 
the  M.  E.  Church,  and  in  1841  was  received  on  trial  in 
the  Missouri  Conference. 

"In  1843  he  was  appointed  to  Buffalo  Circuit,  where 
he  endured  much  affliction,  both  of  body  and  mind. 
His  wife  died  and  he  married  again,  and  the  next  year 
he  located.  For  a  time  he  traveled  under  the  Presiding 
Elder  and  was  readmitted  into  the  St.  Louis  Conference 
in  1855,  and  then  traveled  regularly  until  the  war  came 
up.  He  did  not  cease  to  preach  in  his  neighborhood. 
He  had  an  appointment  the  day  he  met  his  awful  fate, 
but  dared  not  attend  it,  as  his  avowed  enemies  were- 
watching  his  movements.  This  was  Sabbath,  Sept.  20, 
1863.  At  night  three  outlaws,  guided,  no  doubt,  by  an 
other  who  was  not  responsible  to  any  military  organiza 
tion,  approached  his  peaceful  home  and  shot  him.  And 
what  for?  No  one  knows.  He,  like  all  good  men,  was 
self-denying  and  made  no  compromise  with  sin,  wicked 
men  or  devils;  reproving  sin  in  all  its  forms  and  in  all 
places,  he  had  enemies  who  threatened  him  years  before, 
28 


434  MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI. 

and  this  was  a  good  time  to  put  their  designs  into  exe 
cution. 

"At  first  he  was  ordered  from  home;  he  went,  re 
mained  some  three  weeks  and  returned.  Then  they 
compelled  him  to  take  an  oath  and  give  bond,  in  which 
he  was  bound  to  stay  at  home — just  what  he  wanted  to 
do.  But  in  a  few  days  after  giving  bond  there  came  a 
stripling  of  a  boy,  purporting  to  have  orders  from  a 
Lieutenant  of  the  same  family  whence  all  his  troubles 
came,  ordering  him  to  again  leave  home  forthwith, 
and  be  quick  about  it.  He  then,  as  a  law-abiding  man, 
went  to  Captain  Allen,  then  at  Hermitage,  for  protec 
tion  to  enable  him  to  keep  his  obligation,  and  to  know 
how  to  act  under  the  circumstances.  But  the  Captain 
refused  to  protect  or  instruct  him,  only  to  tell  him  that 
he  had  better  leave  quickly,  knowing  at  the  same  time 
that  such  a  course  would  forfeit  his  bond.  He  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  leave  the  next  morning,  but,  as 
stated,  three  armed  men  came  after  dark  and  shot  him 
some  three  or  four  times,  and  he  expired  instantly.  His 
last  and  dying  words  were,  '  Lord,  have  mercy  on  my 
enemies/ 

"  He  was  buried  without  a  song ;  not  even  a  prayer 
was  permitted  to  be  offered  in  behalf  of  his  disconsolate 
wife  and  weeping  children.  But  the  good  man  ex 
changed  a  world  of  woe  for  a  land  of  rest. 

"  Thomas  Glanville  was  always  known  to  be  a  law- 
abiding  man  and  a  peaceable  citizen.  He  often  boasted 
of  the  privileges  he  enjoyed  under  this  benign  Govern 
ment,  and  only  claimed  his  rights  under  its  Constitution 
and  laws.  He  was  never  known  to  violate  any  law, 
abhorred  a  mean  thing  and  would  speak  out  against  it. 


MARTYRDOM     IN     MISSOURI.  435 

He  strenuously  opposed  all  bushwhacking,  stealing, 
murder,  and  any  and  all  infringement  upon  the  rights  of 
others.  He  stood  up  squarely  for  the  rights  of  the  M. 
E.  Church,  South,  and  contended  boldly  for  the  princi 
ples  of  religious  liberty.  In  view  of  these  things  it  is 
not  difficult  to  account  for  his  shameful  and  brutal 
murder.  JOHN  MONROE." 

It  is  quite  a  relief  to  turn  away,  for  a  time  at  least, 
from  the  contemplation  of  such  scenes  of  barbarity  and 
more  than  savage  cruelty  as  the  history  of  the  terrible 
past  presents  to  our  faith  and  philosophy. 

Three  long  chapters,  prepared  for  this  volume,  are 
laid  over  for  the  second,  by  the  decree  of  the  publisher, 
to  prevent  the  enlargement  of  the  present  volume  to  an 
improper  size.  By  it  the  next  volume  will  be  enriched 
beyond  measure.  What  is  lost  to  this  will  be  gained 
for  that,  and  neither  the  work,  as  a  whole,  nor  the 
reader  will  be  damaged. 

The  deferred  chapters  contain  an  account  of  the 
"Kosecransoath,"  in  "Special  Order  No.  6 1,"  of  March 
7th,  1864,  and  its  designs  upon  the  common  laws  and 
facts  of  religious  liberty;  the  persecutions,  trials,  ban 
ishment,  etc.,  of  the  Eev.  Drs.  McPheeters  and  Farris, 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Ptcv.  Tyson  Dynes,  of 
the  M.  E.  Church,  South,  the  long  imprisonment  and 
peculiar  sufferings  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  McAnally ;  the  effort 
to  crush  or  confiscate  the  publishing  house  at  St.  Louis, 
and  its  preservation  and  security  by  the  agent,  the  Rev. 
P.  M.  Pinckard  ;  and  a  "  Chapter  of  Martyrs,"  detailing 
with  careful  minuteness  the  cold-blooded  murder  of  the 
Rev.  John  L.  Wood,  the  Rev.  George  L.  Sexton  and 
the  Rev.  Edwin  Robinson. 


436  MARTYRDOM     IN    MISSOURI. 

The  history  of  the  indictments,  trials,  imprisonment 
and  persecutions  of  ministers  under  the  "test  oath" 
of  the  New  Constitution  will  form  a  prominent  and  ex 
tensive  feature  of  the  second  volume,  with  due  attention 
to  the  particulars  of  the  murder  of  the  Eev.  SAMUEL  S, 
HEADLEE  and  others,  which  will  invest  the  work  with 
thrilling  interest.  The  future  historian  will  assign  to 
these  names  a  conspicuous  place  upon  the  long  roll  of 
martyrs,  and  the  future  Church  will  reap  a  rich  harvest 
of  souls,  with  multiplied  agencies  and  resources,  from 
the  blood  they  shed  "  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus  and 
the  word  of  God." 

"  They  lived  unknown 
Till  persecution  dragged  them  into  lame, 
And  chased  them  up  to  heaven.     Their  ashes  flew, 
No  marble  tells  us  whither.     With  their  names 
Ko  bard  embalms  and  sanctifies  his  song: 
And  history,  so  warm  on  meaner  themes, 
Is  cold  on  this.     She  execrates,  indeed, 
The  tyranny  that  doomed  them  to  the  fire, 
But  gives  the  glorious  sufferers  little  praise." 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


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